OPRA - police officer-involved lawsuits 2012-2019
Dear Wallington Borough,
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 in above.
Yours faithfully,
UC Research
Taeho Kim-
On March 9, 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy declared a State of
Emergency which has had an impact on Wallington and its vendors and
professionals. Wallington is dealing with limited staff and numerous issues
related to this emergency. Additionally, on March 18, 2020, Wallington
closed its borough offices to the public and instituted limited work hours.
Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, New Jersey pursuant to A3849 requires
custodians of records to make a ‘reasonable effort’ to comply with OPRA
requests within seven (7) business days. However, it allows a relaxation of
the deadlines in this emergency.
This request requires additional time beyond the seven (7) business days to
fulfill. It is being processed and shall be forwarded over to you. 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.” This request
requires an initial extension of time until July 10, 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 Borough of Wallington 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.
Respectfully,
Greg Zagaja
Deputy Clerk
-----Original Message-----
From: Taeho Kim <[OPRA #12947 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2020 10:46 PM
To: OPRA requests at Wallington Borough <[email address]>
Subject: OPRA request - OPRA - police officer-involved lawsuits 2012-2019
Dear Wallington Borough,
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 in above.
Yours faithfully,
UC Research
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use deliver records electronically via email to the below UNIQUE
address for all replies to this request:
[OPRA #12947 email]
Is [email address] the wrong address for OPRA requests to
Wallington Borough? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://opramachine.com/change_request/n...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://opramachine.com/help/officers
View this OPRA request & responses online:
https://opramachine.com/request/opra_pol...
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be
delayed.
If you find this service useful as an OPRA custodian, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's website.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Taeho-
Attached is the record search results for your OPRA request. This shall
be considered fulfilled.
Respectfully,
GregZ
Deputy Clerk