Lt. Alex Guzman's Pay and Performance
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:
I request the following information with regards to North Bergen Police Lieutenant Alex J. Guzman for each of the past four years of 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021:
1. Current Assignment e.g. Chiefs Office or Fleet Manager.
2. Salary
3. Overtime in cash
4. Compensatory time/days earned
5. Total dollar amount/cash value of Compensatory Time/days
6. Amount of money made in Off Duty Details
7. Number of Off Duty Details
8. Number of Motor Vehicle Stops
9. Number of Summonses issued
10. Number of Arrests
11. Number of Police Reports Filed
12. Number of times he backed up a Police Officer
13. Number of Pursuits
14. Number of Use of Force Incidents
Thank you.
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,
Ket Amine
Good Afternoon,
The Township of North Bergen (the “Township”) received your request dated 9/16/2024 under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., and the common law right of
access. Your request was as follows:
I request the following information with regards to North Bergen Police Lieutenant Alex J. Guzman for each of the past four years of 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021:
Request: 1. Current Assignment e.g. Chiefs Office or Fleet Manager.
Response: Your request is denied pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9 (N.J.A.C. 13:1E-3.2); N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10.
Request 2. Salary
Response: Attached please find salary records for Lt. Alex Guzman for the requested years 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. Also responsive is the attached document entitled Agreement Between Township of North Bergen, Hudson County, New Jersey and PBA Local #18A (SOA) containing salary scales.
Request 3. Overtime in cash
Response: The Township has no record responsive to your request.
Request 4. Compensatory time/days earned
Response: Your request is denied pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10; N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9 (McGreevey Executive Order No. 26).
Request 5. Total dollar amount/cash value of Compensatory Time/days
Response: The Township has no record responsive to your request.
Request 6. Amount of money made in Off Duty Details
Response: Attached please find relevant records for Lt. Alex Guzman entitled Extra Duty Earnings for the requested years 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Requests: 7. Number of Off Duty Details
8. Number of Motor Vehicle Stops
9. Number of Summonses issued
10. Number of Arrests
11. Number of Police Reports Filed
12. Number of times he backed up a Police Officer
13. Number of Pursuits
14. Number of Use of Force Incidents
Response: Your requests are vague and improper. Requests for information are not valid OPRA requests. A valid OPRA request must seek specific, identifiable records. MAG Entm’t, LLC v. Div. of Alcohol Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534 (App. Div. 2005); Bent v. Stafford Police Dept., 381 N.J. Super. 30 (App. Div. 2005). Accordingly, your requests are denied.
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 (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 requests are denied under common law.
As with any OPRA request, you have the right to challenge the decision by the Township. 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 www.state.nj.us/grc. The Council can also answer other questions about the law. All questions regarding complaints filed in Superior Court should be directed to the Court Clerk in Hudson County.
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