Dear Lawrence Township (Mercer),

This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form. Please acknowledge receipt of this message.
Records requested:

It is my understanding that there is a minimum manpower level per shift in the police department. I've been told that more often than not, the police department is operating at below minimum staffing levels due to manpower shortages. I've been told that there are often multiple officer shortages due to staffing and burnout amongst the police officers.

I am requesting to know the amount of shifts that have not had adequate manpower in Lawrence Township from June 1st 2020 to present.

Yours faithfully,

Carl The Truth

Dear Lawrence Township (Mercer),

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Open Public Records Act reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Lawrence Township (Mercer)'s handling of my OPRA request 'Lawrence Township Police below minimum staffing levels'.

Are you working on this request still?

[ GIVE DETAILS ABOUT YOUR COMPLAINT HERE ]

A full history of my OPRA request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://opramachine.com/request/lawrence...

Yours faithfully,

Carl The Truth

Dear Clerk,

I specifically asked for the past three years and did not ask for anything current that could cause a security issue or impede operational security. I have asked for this information because the residents and taxpayers of Lawrence Township deserve to know the truth on their woefully staffed and underfunded police department under the management of Municipal Manager Kevin Nerwinski. The lack of hiring for police officer retirements prior to the retirements so that fully trained officers are ready as personnel retire is a great disservice to the community.

I specifically remember reading per Mr. Nerwinski that in the next five years over 1/3 of the police department is eligible for retirement in Lawrence Township and we are working on the staffing as a result or something along those lines some time ago. That time is now. What is being done to fix the staffing issues. is Nerwinksi planning for retirements as he said? The retirements coupled with the firing of three police officers and criminal charges and suspension of one officer involved in the whistle blower quota lawsuit has decimated the police department staffing levels.

The number of shifts not filled due to staffing shortages and burn out in the past is not an operational or security concern. It is merely a factual number to show the woeful understaffing of the police department. I would accept a total number of shifts unfilled on a per year basis. I am not asking for specific shifts, IE Days, nights, relief, for each year. Nor am I asking for staffing deficiencies in the future. I am only asking the amount of shifts that went unfilled. I did not ask for the number of shifts that were filled with overtime, just the unfilled ones. By providing the numbers requested, there is no security concern. You are not advertising manpower shortages in the future. You are merely showing manpower shortages in the past.

I ask that you reconsider this matter otherwise I will have to explore other avenues to get this information to include litigation which is costly and unnecessary.

Yours sincerely,

Carl The Truth

Dear Lawrence Township (Mercer),

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Open Public Records Act reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Lawrence Township (Mercer)'s handling of my OPRA request 'Lawrence Township Police below minimum staffing levels'.

Following up on my request. What is the status at this time?

Carl

A full history of my OPRA request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://opramachine.com/request/lawrence...

Yours faithfully,

Carl The Truth

Dear Clerk,

I am disappointed that my request has been denied again. As a result of the denial and in the interest of coming to a compromise I am filing a new request.

Since security is being claimed I will narrow my request to all unfilled or partial shifts that were not covered and the police department went below minimum staffing levels for calendar year 2021 and calendar year 2022. I understand the police department has hired 9 officers in the last year. Therefore, I am requesting the information for past tense manpower shortages that should be rectified by now given the recent hiring of officers by the police department. I am not requesting any information for 2023 to respect any security concerns that have been cited by the township for my original and follow-up response to the original denial.

Yours sincerely,

Carl The Truth