Please accept this as my request for government records under both OPRA and the common law right of access. Thank you very much for your commitment to transparent government.

BACKGROUND:

I visited the "Internal Police Reports" section of the Weehawken Police Department's webpage (weehawken-nj.us/departments/department-of-pubic-safety/police-department) today to read the Department's Internal Affairs reports required to placed on the webpage by Internal Affairs Policies & Procedures (IAPP) Section 9.11.1 and 9.11.2. However, I found only one report available for review: the "Appendix_L-Annual Major Discipline Reporting Form 2022."

By way of background, IAPP Section 9.11.1 requires the Weehawken Police Department to file with the Hudson County Prosecutor and to publish on its webpage annual "report[s] summarizing the types of complaints received and the dispositions of those complaints" which reports "should be statistical in nature." Even though the IAPP has been amended from time to time, the Department has been under a duty to publish these reports, in one for or another, on its webpage since at least 2020. Also, by way of background, IAPP Section 9.11.2 requires the Weehawken Police Department to file and publish on its website annual reports of instances of "major discipline" that were imposed. Again, although the IAPP has gone through a few amendments, it has been a duty of the Weehawken Police Department to publish those major discipline reports on-line, in one form or another, and to file them with the Hudson County Prosecutor since at least 2020.

I believe that the Weehawken Police Department is in violation of IAPP Section 9.11.1 for not having posted its 2020, 2021 and 2022 summary reports on-line. I further believe that the Weehawken Police Department is in violation of IAPP Section 9.11.2 for not having its major discipline" reports from 2020 and 2021 posted on its website.

The object of this request is to learn if the missing reports exist and, if so to learn whether they were filed with the Hudson County Prosecutor as required by IAPP Section 9.11.1 and 2.

RECORDS REQUESTED:

1. Transmittal letters, e-mails or other writings that accompanied the filing of the Weehawken Police Department's Internal Affairs summary reports (i.e. those required to be filed by IAPP Section 9.11.1) covering 2020, 2021 and 2022 with the Hudson County Prosecutor.

2. The Weehawken Police Department's Internal Affairs summary reports (i.e. those required to be filed by IAPP Section 9.11.1) covering 2020, 2021 and 2022.

3. Transmittal letters, e-mails or other writings that accompanied the filing of the Weehawken Police Department's Internal Affairs major discipline reports (i.e. those required to be filed by IAPP Section 9.11.2) covering 2020 and 2021 with the Hudson County Prosecutor.

4. The Weehawken Police Department's Internal Affairs major discipline reports (i.e. those required to be filed by IAPP Section 9.11.2) covering 2020 and 2021.

5. In lieu of responding to Nos. 1 through 4 above, the Weehawken Police Department may satisfy this request by a) uploading the summary reports covering 2020, 2021 and 2022 and the major discipline reports covering 2020 and 2021 to its webpage and b) notifying me, via OPRAMachine, that it has done so. I would actually prefer this because it would make those important reports available to everyone in the public, not just me.

Dear Deputy Chief White:

Perfect. Thank you.

John Paff