Good Afternoon Mr. Engelhardt,

The Township of North Bergen (“Township”) writes in response to your 01/23/2025 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.

Your request seeks:

“Please provide the following:

(1) A complete copy of the entire investigation file regarding this incident;

(2) All surveillance video and/or traffic camera video at Tonnelle Ave. in or around 43rd Street

(3) All police dash camera videos including the audio recordings related to this incident;

(4) All police body camera videos including the audio recordings related to this incident;

(5) All notes taken by the responding police officers including the name, address, and telephone numbers of all witnesses to this incident;

(6) All photographs and/or videos regarding this incident;

(7) All reports from the Police Department and Fire Department regarding this incident;

(8) All CAD reports regarding this incident;

(9) All 911 phone call audio recordings describing and/or mentioning this incident to the 911 dispatcher, police, and/or fire department.

In response to your request, records are available for pick up in the Clerk's Office, redacted in accordance with N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 and -1.1.


Request: (1) A complete copy of the entire investigation file regarding this incident;

Response: The investigation reports for incident 22-002065 are available on a DVD for pick up in the Clerk's Office.

Request: (2) All surveillance video and/or traffic camera video at Tonnelle Ave. in or around 43rd Street

Response: CCTV footage identified during this incident has been provided, entitled:
39th-Tonnelle_20220108065842_20220108065953,
39th-Tonnelle_20220108065902_20220108071501,
39th-Tonnelle_20220108071500_20220108073002,
39th-Tonnelle_20220108072959_20220108074501,
39th-Tonnelle_20220108074458_20220108080005,
39th-Tonnelle_20220108080000_20220108081506

Request: (3) All police dash camera videos including the audio recordings related to this incident;

Response: The Township does not utilize “dash cameras” and holds no record responsive.

Request: (4) All police body camera videos including the audio recordings related to this incident;

Response: The Township possesses 12 BWC video footage recordings for the requested incident at the time of your request. The Township will be required to review all the footage to make redactions in compliance with OPRA. The recordings collectively amount to approximately 14 hours and 46 minutes of footage, which the Township estimates will take nearly 21 hours to collect, review visual and audio content, make necessary redactions, and re-record the materials for release to you. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.c, OPRA allows public agencies to impose special service charges whenever the nature, format, manner of collation, or volume of a government record is such that fulfilling a request requires an extraordinary expenditure of time and effort. The lowest-paid officer capable of the review and redaction of said footage is employed at a rate of $70.00 per hour, therefore the Township will accordingly require a deposit of $1,470 (21 hours x $70.00/hour) before the Township commences its review. You may issue payment directly to the Township of North Bergen, and any unused portion of the deposit will be returned to you. If you do not approve or reject this charge within 7 business days, the Township will deem your request for BWC footage withdrawn.

The Township invites you to contact the Police Department’s Records Custodian (Tel: 201-392-2144) with any questions at any time.

Request: (5) All notes taken by the responding police officers including the name, address, and telephone numbers of all witnesses to this incident;

Response: There are no records responsive in addition to the investigatory report as noted in request #1.

Request: (6) All photographs and/or videos regarding this incident;

Response: Requests for “any and all” materials related to a particular matter are not proper under OPRA; rather, a 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 Dep’t, 381 N.J. Super. 30 (App. Div. 2005). Despite the improper request, 42 photos of the scene and vehicles involved have been supplied to you.

Request: (7) All reports from the Police Department and Fire Department regarding this incident;

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). Despite your overly broad request, the NJTR-1 crash report has been supplied to you.

Request: (8) All CAD reports regarding this incident;

Response: CAD report for incident 22-002065 is available on a DVD for pick up in the Clerk's Office.

Request: (9) All 911 phone call audio recordings describing and/or mentioning this incident to the 911 dispatcher, police, and/or fire department.

Response: Files entitled 911 Audio and 911 Audio Table related to this incident are available on a DVD for pick up in the Clerk's Office. This department holds no records related to the fire department.

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, although you have been provided records under OPRA, your request is 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

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