Lt. Alex Guzman laundering fraudulent comp time to work details
Dear North Bergen Township,
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:
Request the following information with regards to North Bergen Police Lt. Alex J. Guzman for this year 2024, on a monthly basis:
1. Number of days Lt. Guzman was scheduled to work per month.
2. Number of days Lt. Guzman actually worked his scheduled days per month.
3. Number of days Lt. Guzman worked on his days off to accumulate Overtime/Compensatory time per month.
4. Number of Compensatory days and Overtime Lt. Guzman accumulated per month.
5. Number of Compensatory days Lt. Guzman used per month.
6. Number of off duty details Lt. Guzman worked per month.
7. Please provide this information on a per month basis for this year of 2024.
8. Request copy of North Bergen Police Department Personnel Order 24-021 dated on or about February 1, 2024, Robert J. Farley's promotion to Chief of Police. This was Chief Farley's first official act as Chief of Police to assign Lt. Alex Guzman and SLEO Capt. Michael Derin as aides to the Chief of Police and further they only take orders from the Chief of Police.
9. The people request this information to confirm Lt. Guzman does not come into work to do the job the people of North Bergen pay him to do. Instead he works on his days off to fraudulently accumulate an outrageous amount of overtime which he launders into compensatory time. He then uses this time off to work construction details. THIS IS THEFT!!!
10. If NBPD Personnel Order 24-021 is correct, Chief Robert Farley is directly responsible for this.
11. I did not Opra request Corp. Brown's pay and performance. I must have touched a nerve Lt. Guzman for you to impersonate me and use my name to Opra Corp. Brown. It only reinforces the lengths you will go to harass and intimidate good Police Officers in North Bergen. The people are going to expose you and your criminal activity. This is my 3rd and last Opra request under Ket Amine, your favorite.
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,
The real Ket Amine
Good Morning,
The Township of North Bergen (“Township”) writes in response to your 09/17/2023 request seeking records pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1, et seq. (“OPRA”) and the common law. You requested the following information.
Request the following information with regards to North Bergen Police Lt. Alex J. Guzman for this year 2024, on a monthly basis:
1. Number of days Lt. Guzman was scheduled to work per month.
2. Number of days Lt. Guzman actually worked his scheduled days per month.
3. Number of days Lt. Guzman worked on his days off to accumulate Overtime/Compensatory time per month.
4. Number of Compensatory days and Overtime Lt. Guzman accumulated per month.
5. Number of Compensatory days Lt. Guzman used per month.
6. Number of off duty details Lt. Guzman worked per month.
7. Please provide this information on a per month basis for this year of 2024.
8. Request copy of North Bergen Police Department Personnel Order 24-021 dated on or about February 1, 2024, Robert J. Farley's promotion to Chief of Police. This was Chief Farley's first official act as Chief of Police to assign Lt. Alex Guzman and SLEO Capt. Michael Derin as aides to the Chief of Police and further they only take orders from the Chief of Police.
9. The people request this information to confirm Lt. Guzman does not come into work to do the job the people of North Bergen pay him to do. Instead he works on his days off to fraudulently accumulate an outrageous amount of overtime which he launders into compensatory time. He then uses this time off to work construction details. THIS IS THEFT!!!
10. If NBPD Personnel Order 24-021 is correct, Chief Robert Farley is directly responsible for this.
11. I did not Opra request Corp. Brown's pay and performance. I must have touched a nerve Lt. Guzman for you to impersonate me and use my name to Opra Corp. Brown. It only reinforces the lengths you will go to harass and intimidate good Police Officers in North Bergen. The people are going to expose you and your criminal activity. This is my 3rd and last Opra request under Ket Amine, your favorite.
The Township responds:
Request 1. Number of days Lt. Guzman was scheduled to work per month.
Response: Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9 (Executive Order No. 9 (Hughes); N.J.A.C. 13:1E-3.2) and N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10, your request is denied.
Request 2. Number of days Lt. Guzman actually worked his scheduled days per month.
Response: The Township has no record responsive to this request.
Request 3. Number of days Lt. Guzman worked on his days off to accumulate Overtime/Compensatory time per month.
Response: The Township has no record responsive to this request.
Request 4. Number of Compensatory days and Overtime Lt. Guzman accumulated per month.
Response: Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9 (Executive Order No. 9 (Hughes), N.J.A.C. 13:1E-3.2) and N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10, your request for “Number of Compensatory (sic) days” is denied. In response to overtime data, see attached entitled, Lt. Guzman Overtime Data 2024.
Request 5. Number of Compensatory days Lt. Guzman used per month.
Response: Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9 (Executive Order No. 9 (Hughes), N.J.A.C. 13:1E-3.2) and N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10, your request is denied.
Request 6. Number of off duty details Lt. Guzman worked per month.
Response: Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10, your request is denied.
Request 7. Please provide this information on a per month basis for this year of 2024.
Response: Your request is overly broad, vague and improper, and therefore denied. MAG Entm’t, LLC v. Div. of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534 (App. Div. 2005).
Request 8. Request copy of North Bergen Police Department Personnel Order 24-021 dated on or about February 1, 2024, Robert J. Farley's promotion to Chief of Police. This was Chief Farley's first official act as Chief of Police to assign Lt. Alex Guzman and SLEO Capt. Michael Derin as aides to the Chief of Police and further they only take orders from the Chief of Police.
Response: Your request is denied pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9 (N.J.A.C. 13:1E-3.2).
Request 9. The people request this information to confirm Lt. Guzman does not come into work to do the job the people of North Bergen pay him to do. Instead he works on his days off to fraudulently accumulate an outrageous amount of overtime which he launders into compensatory time. He then uses his time off to work construction details. THIS IS THEFT!!!
Request 10. If NBPD Personnel Order 24-021 is correct, Chief Robert Farley is directly responsible for this.
Request 11. I did not Opra request Corp. Brown's pay and performance. I must have touched a nerve Lt. Guzman for you to impersonate me and use my name to Opra Corp. Brown. It only reinforces the lengths you will go to harass and intimidate good Police Officers in North Bergen. The people are going to expose you and your criminal activity. This is my 3rd and last Opra request under Ket Amine, your favorite.
Response: “Requests” #9, #10, and #11 fail to request any records. To the extent they are construed to constitute a request, they are denied. MAG Entm’t, LLC v. Div. of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534 (App. Div. 2005).
You requested the same records under the common law. Unlike with OPRA, the burden to show that access to common law public records should be permitted lies with the requestor. “The common-law right to access public records depends on three requirements: (1) the records must be common-law public documents; (2) the person seeking access must ‘establish an interest in the subject matter of the material,’; and (3) the citizen's right to access ‘must be balanced against the State's interest in preventing disclosure.” Keddie v. Rutgers, 148 N.J. 36, 50, 689 A.2d 702, 709 (1997) (internal citations omitted). You have neither established that the records you seek are common-law public documents, identified an interest in the subject matter of such records, nor set forth how your need for disclosure outweighs the State’s clearly expressed, strong public policy interest in preventing such disclosure. Accordingly, your request is denied under common law.
As with any OPRA request, you have the right to challenge the decision by the Township in regards to your request. At your option, you may either institute a proceeding in the Superior Court of New Jersey or file a complaint with the Government Records Council (“GRC”) by completing the Denial of Access Complaint Form. You may contact the GRC by toll-free telephone at 866-850-0511, by mail at PO Box 819, Trenton, NJ 08625, by e-mail at [email address] or at their web site at https://www.nj.gov/grc. The GRC can also answer other questions about the law. All questions regarding complaints filed in Superior Court should be directed to the Court Clerk in the County in which you reside.
Thank you.
Erin Barillas, RMC
Township Clerk
Township of North Bergen
4233 Kennedy Blvd
North Bergen, NJ 07047
e: [North Bergen Township request email]
o: 201-392-2024
f: 201-330-7694
www.northbergen.org