First responder vehicle illegal trafic stop incident
Dear Emerson Borough,
Please accept this electronic request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form or use a particular software platform to submit my request per NJSA 47:1A-6(f), which states that an email from a requestor including all of the information required on the adopted form shall suffice in place of a completed form as a valid government record request.
I HAVE NOT been convicted of any indictable offense under the laws of New Jersey, any other state, or the United States.
I WILL NOT use the requested government records for a commercial purpose.
I AM NOT seeking records in connection with a legal proceeding.
Records requested:
I would like to receive any CAD / dispatcher / police journal entry records, DISPATCH RECORDINGS, 911 tapes, any dispatch calls, images, recordings, audio recordings, video recordings, surveillance video, accident reports, incident reports, aided reports, operations reports, internal affairs records, vehicle reports, investigation reports, citations, summonses issued, charge sheets, disposition of charges, court records, legal actions, lawsuits filed, settlement agreements, judgements, disciplinary records, disciplinary proceedings, disciplinary charges, disciplinary actions, personnell actions, ambulance reports, patient care reports, fire department response reports, sobriety test results, total station diagrams, accident reconstruction diagrams and reports, dashboard camera video, and email, letters or other written communications that are related to the incident in april 2012, april 2013, or april 2014 in which borough ambulance personnell were alleged to have used an emergency vehicle to conduct an “unauthorized” or “illegal” traffic stop on another person, reference a dave mason or david mason in april 2012, april 2013, or april 2014,
reference a hristos vaporakis in april 2012, april 2013 or april 2014, or reference a chris vaporakis in april 2012 april 2013 or April 2014, or reference suspensions of ambulance personnell imposed at a july 15 2014 meeting.
My preferred delivery method for response(s) to this request is by E-mail as attachments. Please confirm you have received this request. If you are not the custodian of records, please forward my request to that person and provide their email address to me for future reference.
Yours faithfully,
blueraspberry lemonade
Good evening blueraspberry lemonade,
The Borough of Emerson, and I, as its Custodian of Records, received your Open Public records Act (OPRA) request and common law right of access request on October 7, 2024 for:
"Records requested:
I would like to receive any CAD / dispatcher / police journal entry records, DISPATCH RECORDINGS, 911 tapes, any dispatch calls, images, recordings, audio recordings, video recordings, surveillance video, accident reports, incident reports, aided reports, operations reports, internal affairs records, vehicle reports, investigation reports, citations, summonses issued, charge sheets, disposition of charges, court records, legal actions, lawsuits filed, settlement agreements, judgements, disciplinary records, disciplinary proceedings, disciplinary charges, disciplinary actions, personnell actions, ambulance reports, patient care reports, fire department response reports, sobriety test results, total station diagrams, accident reconstruction diagrams and reports, dashboard camera video, and email, letters or other written communications that are related to the incident in april 2012, april 2013, or april 2014 in which borough ambulance personnell were alleged to have used an emergency vehicle to conduct an “unauthorized” or “illegal” traffic stop on another person, reference a dave mason or david mason in april 2012, april 2013, or april 2014, reference a hristos vaporakis in april 2012, april 2013 or april 2014, or reference a chris vaporakis in april 2012 april 2013 or April 2014, or reference suspensions of ambulance personnell imposed at a july 15 2014 meeting."
As such, the seven (7) business day deadline to respond to your request is October 17, 2024. This response to your request is being provided to you on the 7th business day after the custodian’s receipt of said request.
Your request requires additional time beyond the seven (7) business days to fulfill due to the scope of your request including the volume of records being requested and the extensive period of time for which the records are sought. Further, as your request seeks records from the years 2012 to 2014, additional time is required to retrieve potentially responsive records from storage. OPRA allows custodians to seek extensions of time pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.i. Specifically, OPRA states that, “the custodian shall be entitled to a reasonable extension of any response deadline and shall notify the requestor of the time extension within seven business days after receiving the request." Further, if the government record is in storage or archived, "...the requestor shall be advised by the custodian when the record can be made available, which shall be no more than 21 business days from the date the requestor is so advised. If the record is not made available by that time, access shall be deemed denied.”
Your request requires an extension of time until November 18, 2024 to fulfill.
If your request for access to a government record has been denied or unfilled within the seven (7) or fourteen (14) business days required by law, you have a right to challenge the decision by the Borough of Emerson to deny access. At your option, you may either: 1) institute a proceeding in the Superior Court of New Jersey; or 2) file a complaint with the Government Records Council (“GRC”) by completing the Denial of Access Complaint Form. All questions regarding complaints filed in Superior Court should be directed to the Court Clerk in your County. Questions regarding the GRC’s Denial of Access Complaint process can be directed to the GRC toll-free telephone at 866-850-0511, by mail at P.O. Box 819, Trenton, NJ, 08625, by e-mail at [email address], or at their web site at www.state.nj.us/grc. The Council can answer general inquiries about OPRA.
Regards,
Michelle Ryan
Acting Borough Clerk
Borough of Emerson
1 Municipal Place
Emerson, New Jersey 07630
Tel: 201-262-6086 ext. 1200
Email: [Emerson Borough request email]
Website: www.emersonnj.org
Good evening blueraspberry lemonade,
Your request requires an additional extension to respond, as is permitted by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.i, due to the scope of your request including the volume of records being requested and the extensive period of time for which the records are sought.
A response will be provided by November 27, 2024.
If your request for access to a government record has been denied or unfilled within the seven (7) or fourteen (14) business days required by law, you have a right to challenge the decision by the Borough of Emerson to deny access. At your option, you may either: 1) institute a proceeding in the Superior Court of New Jersey; or 2) file a complaint with the Government Records Council (“GRC”) by completing the Denial of Access Complaint Form. All questions regarding complaints filed in Superior Court should be directed to the Court Clerk in your County. Questions regarding the GRC’s Denial of Access Complaint process can be directed to the GRC toll-free telephone at 866-850-0511, by mail at P.O. Box 819, Trenton, NJ, 08625, by e-mail at [email address], or at their web site at www.state.nj.us/grc. The Council can answer general inquiries about OPRA.
Have a good night.
Michelle Ryan
Acting Borough Clerk
Borough of Emerson
1 Municipal Place
Emerson, New Jersey 07630
Tel: 201-262-6086 ext. 1200
Email: [Emerson Borough request email]
Website: www.emersonnj.org
Good afternoon blueraspberry lemonade,
Your request requires an additional extension to respond, as is permitted by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.i, due to the scope of your request including the volume of records being requested and the extensive period of time for which the records are sought.
A response will be provided by December 6, 2024.
If your request for access to a government record has been denied or unfilled within the seven (7) or fourteen (14) business days required by law, you have a right to challenge the decision by the Borough of Emerson to deny access. At your option, you may either: 1) institute a proceeding in the Superior Court of New Jersey; or 2) file a complaint with the Government Records Council (“GRC”) by completing the Denial of Access Complaint Form. All questions regarding complaints filed in Superior Court should be directed to the Court Clerk in your County. Questions regarding the GRC’s Denial of Access Complaint process can be directed to the GRC toll-free telephone at 866-850-0511, by mail at P.O. Box 819, Trenton, NJ, 08625, by e-mail at [email address], or at their web site at www.state.nj.us/grc. The Council can answer general inquiries about OPRA.
Have a nice Thanksgiving.
Michelle Ryan
Acting Borough Clerk
Borough of Emerson
1 Municipal Place
Emerson, New Jersey 07630
Tel: 201-262-6086 ext. 1200
Email: [Emerson Borough request email]
Website: www.emersonnj.org
Good evening blueraspberry lemonade,
The Borough of Emerson, and I, as its Custodian of Records, received your Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request and common law right of access request on October 7, 2024 for:
"Records requested:
I would like to receive any CAD / dispatcher / police journal entry records, DISPATCH RECORDINGS, 911 tapes, any dispatch calls, images, recordings, audio recordings, video recordings, surveillance video, accident reports, incident reports, aided reports, operations reports, internal affairs records, vehicle reports, investigation reports, citations, summonses issued, charge sheets, disposition of charges, court records, legal actions, lawsuits filed, settlement agreements, judgements, disciplinary records, disciplinary proceedings, disciplinary charges, disciplinary actions, personnell actions, ambulance reports, patient care reports, fire department response reports, sobriety test results, total station diagrams, accident reconstruction diagrams and reports, dashboard camera video, and email, letters or other written communications that are related to the incident in april 2012, april 2013, or april 2014 in which borough ambulance personnell were alleged to have used an emergency vehicle to conduct an “unauthorized” or “illegal” traffic stop on another person, reference a dave mason or david mason in april 2012, april 2013, or april 2014, reference a hristos vaporakis in april 2012, april 2013 or april 2014, or reference a chris vaporakis in april 2012 april 2013 or April 2014, or reference suspensions of ambulance personnell imposed at a july 15 2014 meeting."
As such, the seven (7) business day deadline to respond to your request was October 17, 2024, and on October 17, 2024, I sent an email advising that an extension was needed to respond, as is permitted by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.i, until November 18, 2024. Further extensions were sought on November 18th and November 27th with a final extended response date of December 6th. This response is being provided to you on December 6, 2024.
Please be advised that your request has not been properly submitted under the Open Public Records Act, specifically in accordance with N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.f and N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.i(1), and is, therefore, denied.
As you also made a request under the common law right of access, please be further advised that you have not provided me with your legally recognized interest in the subject matter contained in the material being sought, as is required, and therefore, I could not conduct a balancing test, as is also required, to determine whether your interest is valid. Therefore, your request under the common law right of access is also denied.
If your request for access to a government record has been denied or unfilled within the seven (7) or fourteen (14) business days required by law, you have a right to challenge the decision by the Borough of Emerson to deny access. At your option, you may either: 1) institute a proceeding in the Superior Court of New Jersey; or 2) file a complaint with the Government Records Council (“GRC”) by completing the Denial of Access Complaint Form. All questions regarding complaints filed in Superior Court should be directed to the Court Clerk in your County. Questions regarding the GRC’s Denial of Access Complaint process can be directed to the GRC toll-free telephone at 866-850-0511, by mail at P.O. Box 819, Trenton, NJ, 08625, by e-mail at [email address], or at their web site at www.state.nj.us/grc. The Council can answer general inquiries about OPRA.
Have a nice weekend.
Michelle Ryan
Acting Borough Clerk
Borough of Emerson
1 Municipal Place
Emerson, New Jersey 07630
Tel: 201-262-6086 ext. 1200
Email: [Emerson Borough request email]
Website: www.emersonnj.org