NBPD Lt. Alex Guzman Arrested for DWI/CDS
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 am requesting the arrest report and booking photos, where you clearly see cocaine right below Lt. Alex Guzman’s nostril. This DWI incident took place sometime in 2018.
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,
Skittles 🌈
Good Morning,
The Township of North Bergen (the “Township”) received your request dated 07/11/2025 under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.
Records requested:
I am requesting the arrest report and booking photos, where you clearly see cocaine right below Lt. Alex Guzman’s nostril. This DWI incident took place sometime in 2018."
The Township responds:
To the extent the Township possesses any responsive records within an Internal Affairs file, your request must be denied under OPRA pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9 ((N.J.A.C. 13:1E-3.2) (section 9.6.1 of the New Jersey Attorney General Directive 2020-7, Internal Affairs Policy and Procedures,)) and N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10.
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9 (Executive Orders No. 9 (Hughes) and No. 69 (Whitman)), fingerprint cards, plates, photographs, and other similar criminal investigation records which are required to be made, maintained or kept by any State or local governmental agency are exempt from release in OPRA. For these reasons, your request is 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, 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 regard 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 www.state.nj.us/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