OPRA: police officer-involved lawsuits 2012-2019
Dear East Brunswick Township,
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:
1. A list of all lawsuits and cases in which any officer of the police department was involved between 2012 and 2019. For each lawsuit/case, please provide the date (month and year) of the alleged incident at issue, whether the alleged incident was excessive force, settlement amount (if any), and final compensation amount ruled (if any).
2. Please provide copies of the complaint in any lawsuits and cases described above.
Yours faithfully,
UC Research
Dear Taeho Kim:
The Township of East Brunswick received your Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request on May 27, 2020. The official Records Custodian, Nennette Perry, received your OPRA request on May 27, 2020. As such, the seven (7) business day deadline to respond to your request is June 5, 2020
Your OPRA request sought access to the following:
1. A list of all lawsuits and cases in which any officer of the police department was involved between 2012 and 2019. For each lawsuit/case, please provide the date (month and year) of the alleged incident at issue, whether the alleged incident was excessive force, settlement amount (if any), and final compensation amount ruled (if any).
2. Please provide copies of the complaint in any lawsuits and cases described above.
Your request requires additional time beyond the seven (7) business days to fulfill because records are in storage. OPRA allows custodians to seek extensions of time pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.i. Specifically, OPRA states that, “the requestor shall be advised by the custodian when the record can be made available. If the record is not made available by that time, access shall be deemed denied.”
Your request requires an extension of time until June 19, 2020.
If your request for access to a government record has been denied or unfilled within the seven (7) business days required by law, you have a right to challenge the decision by the Township of East Brunswick to deny access. 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 P.O. 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 your County.
Nennette Perry
Township Clerk \ Registrar
East Brunswick Township
One Civic Center Drive
P O Box 1081
East Brunswick NJ 08816
732-390-6850
Fax 732-238-8848
[email address]
In response to your OPRA Request - attached is the requested information for Item #2. Redactions are made of personal items such as SS#, DOBs and personal telephone numbers. Redactions are done in accordance with GRC guidelines.
In answer to Item 1 - This OPRA request asks questions or seek information rather than specific identifiable government records; as such, these requests are invalid under OPRA. The New Jersey Superior Court has held that "[w]hile OPRA provides an alternative means of access to government documents not otherwise exempted from its reach, it is not intended as a research tool litigants may use to force government officials to identify and siphon useful information. Rather, OPRA simply operates to make identifiable government records ‘readily accessible for inspection, copying, or examination.’ N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1." (Emphasis added.) MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 546 (App. Div. 2005). The Court further held that "[u]nder OPRA, agencies are required to disclose only ‘identifiable’ government records not otherwise exempt ... In short, OPRA does not countenance open-ended searches of an agency's files." (Emphasis added.) Id. at 549. Further, in Bent v. Stafford Police Department, 381 N.J. Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005),10 the Superior Court references MAG in that the Court held that a requestor must specifically describe the document sought because OPRA operates to make identifiable government records “accessible.” “As such, a proper request under OPRA must identify with reasonable clarity those documents that are desired, and a party cannot satisfy this requirement by simply requesting all of an agency's documents.”11
If your request for access to a government record has been denied or unfilled within the seven (7) business days required by law, you have a right to challenge the decision by the Township of East Brunswick to deny access. 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 P.O. 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 your County.
Nennette Perry
Township Clerk \ Registrar
East Brunswick Township
One Civic Center Drive
P O Box 1081
East Brunswick NJ 08816
732-390-6850
Fax 732-238-8848
nperry@eastbrunswick.