Dear Woodbridge 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-5(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:

Pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA), I request access to all existing video, film, audio, Mobile Video Recorder (MVR), dash-camera, in-car, headquarters, surveillance, telephone, radio, dispatch, evidentiary, archived, exported, transferred, or otherwise preserved recordings associated with the following specifically identified incident:

Subject/Defendant: David J. DeSane
Incident #: 19032618
Incident Date: March 23, 2019
Approximate Initial Time: 1:16 a.m.
Location: FedEx Ground, 6000 Riverside Drive, Woodbridge Township, New Jersey
Incident Type: DWI
Arresting/Reporting Officer: Bryan B. Dorward, Badge/Personnel #597
Status of DeSane at the time: Lieutenant, Asbury Park Police Department

The requester possesses the Woodbridge Police Department incident report/package concerning Incident #19032618. The identifiers are provided solely to assist the Township in locating the associated recordings.

Officers, Units and Vehicle Identifiers

Woodbridge's records identify the following units and personnel associated with Incident #19032618:

Unit 23 — Officer M. Ventre — Personnel ID 514
Unit 25 — Officer Y.A. Doherty — Personnel ID 654
Unit 25 — Officer N. Garrett — Personnel ID 671
Unit 3 — Officer A. Sterlacci — Personnel ID 610
Unit 3 — Officer L. Kelly — Personnel ID 618
Unit 69 — Officer D. Maldonado — Personnel ID 584
Unit 75 — Officer Bryan B. Dorward — Badge/Personnel #597

The records additionally identify B. Chesser, Badge #443, as the approving officer.

Please utilize the incident number, date/time, officer names, badge/personnel numbers, CAD unit numbers, and any corresponding historical vehicle or equipment identifiers when searching for responsive recordings.

Officer Dorward and Unmarked Unit #75

Officer Bryan B. Dorward #597 states in his narrative that he was working DWI Patrol when dispatched to FedEx Ground. He conducted the roadside DWI investigation and Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, arrested DeSane, placed him in the rear of unmarked Unit #75, and transported him to Woodbridge Police Headquarters.

Accordingly, please specifically search for any:

MVR recording;
MVR audio;
dashboard/dash-camera recording;
forward-facing vehicle video;
rear-facing/prisoner-compartment video;
in-car video;
in-car audio;
officer microphone audio;
rear-seat/prisoner-compartment audio; or
other recording associated with Officer Dorward #597 and unmarked Unit #75.

The search should encompass the roadside investigation, field sobriety testing, arrest, placement of DeSane into Unit #75, transportation to Woodbridge Police Headquarters, and arrival at headquarters.

Other Responding Units

Please also search for MVR, dash-camera, in-car video and/or audio associated with responding Units 3, 23, 25 and 69, including recordings associated with M. Ventre #514, Y.A. Doherty #654, N. Garrett #671, A. Sterlacci #610, L. Kelly #618, and D. Maldonado #584.

If the historical recording system indexed recordings by vehicle/unit number, officer login, personnel/badge number, incident number, CAD event, date/time, equipment identifier, or another searchable field, please utilize the applicable identifiers.

All Police Video and Audio

This request is not limited to body-worn camera footage.

Please search for any existing:

Mobile Video Recorder (MVR) video;
MVR audio;
Dashboard/dash-camera video;
In-car video;
In-car audio;
Officer microphone audio associated with the vehicle/MVR system;
Rear-seat/prisoner-compartment video or audio;
Recordings associated with Unit #75;
Recordings associated with Units 3, 23, 25 and 69;
Headquarters surveillance video;
Sally-port/vehicle-arrival footage;
Booking or processing-area video/audio;
Cell-block or holding-area video/audio;
Interview-room video/audio;
Hallway, lobby, garage, parking-area, or other headquarters surveillance footage;
Video/audio associated with Alcotest/refusal processing;
Any other film, video, digital recording, analog recording, or audio depicting or capturing the arrest, transportation, custody, or processing of DeSane;
Still photographs/images extracted from responsive recordings; and
Any duplicate, export, download, archive, backup, CD, DVD, flash drive, external-media copy, evidence-system copy, or other preserved version of any responsive recording.
Dispatch, Radio, Telephone and Communications Audio

Please also search for any existing communications recordings associated with Incident #19032618, including:

9-1-1 recordings;
police dispatch audio;
police radio transmissions;
transmissions involving responding Units 3, 23, 25, 69 and 75;
telephone calls to or from Woodbridge Police concerning the incident;
recorded communications with FedEx Ground or FedEx security personnel;
CAD-associated communications audio;
communications concerning DeSane's arrest or transportation;
communications concerning processing at headquarters; and
any duplicate, exported, archived, or evidentiary copy of these communications.
FedEx Ground and Other Third-Party Recordings

The incident occurred at FedEx Ground, 6000 Riverside Drive, and Woodbridge's records reflect the involvement of FedEx security personnel.

Accordingly, please search for any third-party/business surveillance recording actually obtained, received, downloaded, copied, preserved, submitted into evidence, or otherwise maintained by Woodbridge Police in connection with Incident #19032618.

This includes, if obtained:

FedEx Ground surveillance/security-camera footage;
parking-lot surveillance;
loading-terminal/loading-bay surveillance;
entrance/exit surveillance;
exterior/roadway surveillance;
security-office video or audio;
footage supplied by FedEx security personnel;
photographs or still images obtained from surveillance footage;
recordings supplied by another business, witness, security officer, complainant, or third party;
CD/DVD or flash-drive copies;
electronically transferred recordings;
digital-evidence-system submissions; and
any evidentiary duplicate or archived copy.

This request seeks third-party recordings only to the extent they were actually obtained or maintained by Woodbridge Township or its Police Department. It does not request that Woodbridge obtain new records from a private business.

Internal Affairs Investigation and Preservation

At the time of Incident #19032618, David J. DeSane was a Lieutenant with the Asbury Park Police Department.

The incident subsequently became the subject of an Asbury Park Police Department Internal Affairs investigation conducted by then-Internal Affairs Sergeant Michael Barnes.

The Woodbridge footage from this incident was provided to Asbury Park IA in connection with that Internal Affairs investigation.

That Internal Affairs investigation ultimately resulted in a sustained charge. The underlying DWI/traffic matter was ultimately resolved through a plea agreement resulting in a lesser offense.

Accordingly, please determine whether any recording associated with Incident #19032618 was:

flagged as evidence;
placed under extended retention;
preserved because of the Internal Affairs investigation;
exported;
downloaded;
duplicated;
archived;
backed up;
copied to physical media;
transferred to Asbury Park Police Department;
provided to Sergeant Michael Barnes;
maintained in an evidence-management system;
retained in connection with the DWI/traffic proceeding;
retained in connection with the subsequent administrative investigation; or
otherwise removed from an ordinary automatic-deletion cycle.

The fact that footage was provided to another law-enforcement agency for an Internal Affairs investigation creates a specific reason to determine whether an evidentiary or exported copy survived beyond the ordinary retention period.

Legacy, Archived and Migrated Recordings

Please include in the search, to the extent they remain reasonably accessible, any:

former/legacy MVR system;
legacy video database;
archived storage;
evidence-management system;
server storage;
backup storage;
physical evidentiary media;
exported recording;
transferred recording; or
migrated recording maintained in a subsequent system.

Please determine whether responsive recordings associated with Incident #19032618 were migrated, transferred, archived, exported, backed up, or otherwise preserved during any subsequent change in Woodbridge's recording or evidence-storage systems.

Where reasonably necessary to locate existing records, please consult the appropriate Records Bureau, evidence/property, police IT, Internal Affairs, or other personnel familiar with the historical MVR system, archival storage, evidence preservation, and system migration.

Borough of Spotswood v. Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office

The requester also respectfully directs the Township's attention to:

Borough of Spotswood, et al. v. Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, et al.
Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division
Docket No. A-3457-23
Law Division Docket No. L-0563-24
Decided March 5, 2026

The requester recognizes that Spotswood is an unpublished Appellate Division decision subject to Rule 1:36-3 and specifically concerned body-worn-camera recordings and the statutory BWC framework. The requester therefore does not contend that its BWC-specific statutory retention provisions necessarily govern Woodbridge's 2019 MVR/in-car recording system.

Nevertheless, Spotswood is relevant to the preservation and government-record issues presented when police recordings are received and maintained by law-enforcement agencies in connection with their official responsibilities, including an Internal Affairs investigation.

Here, there is a specific factual basis for determining whether an evidentiary copy was separately preserved because footage associated with Incident #19032618 was provided to Asbury Park Internal Affairs Sergeant Michael Barnes for an official investigation concerning then-Lieutenant David J. DeSane.

If Video or Audio No Longer Exists — Certification Requested

If Woodbridge determines after a reasonable search that any or all of the requested video/audio no longer exists, please provide all existing government records documenting its disposition, including:

destruction/deletion logs;
purge records;
retention/disposition records;
applicable retention schedules;
evidence/property records;
destruction authorizations;
evidence export/transfer records;
records documenting transfer to Asbury Park Police Department;
archive or backup records;
legacy-system records;
records identifying when responsive material was destroyed, deleted, or purged;
records identifying whether it received an evidentiary or extended-retention designation;
system-migration records; and
other existing records documenting the ultimate disposition of the requested recordings.

If the requested video or audio no longer exists, the requester additionally requests a written certification from the appropriate records custodian or knowledgeable Woodbridge Police official confirming that fact following a reasonable search.

To the extent reasonably ascertainable, please have the certification identify:

Whether the particular requested recording(s) no longer exist or are no longer in Woodbridge Township's possession, custody, or control;
The categories of systems/repositories searched, including the legacy MVR system, archives, evidence-management storage, migrated data, backups, physical evidentiary media, and current systems, as applicable;
Whether records associated with Incident #19032618, Officer Dorward #597, Unit #75, and responding Units 3, 23, 25 and 69 were searched;
Whether any separately preserved, exported, archived, or evidentiary copy associated with the subsequent Internal Affairs investigation was located;
If ascertainable, when the recording was deleted, destroyed, purged, or otherwise disposed of;
If ascertainable, the applicable retention schedule or authority governing its disposition; and
Whether any existing record documents the transfer or provision of responsive footage to Asbury Park Police Department/Internal Affairs.

If Woodbridge takes the position that OPRA does not require creation of a new certification, please provide any existing certification, declaration, affidavit, destruction record, disposition record, evidence record, log, correspondence, or other government record documenting the nonexistence or disposition of the requested recording(s) and state the Township's position regarding the requested certification in writing.

Special Service Charge / Technical Retrieval

The requester recognizes that locating a recording from 2019 through a legacy MVR system, archive, backup, physical evidentiary media, or other historical repository may require additional technical work.

The requester is willing to pay any lawful special service charge or other authorized fee, including reasonable charges associated with necessary technical assistance, archival retrieval, legacy-system retrieval, or other extraordinary retrieval efforts.

If a special service charge is necessary, please provide the estimated amount and basis for the charge before undertaking work that will result in the expense.

The purpose of this request is to determine whether video/audio associated with Incident #19032618, March 23, 2019, David J. DeSane—particularly recordings associated with Officer Bryan B. Dorward #597 and unmarked Unit #75, responding Units 3, 23, 25 and 69, Woodbridge Police Headquarters, police communications, and any third-party/FedEx recordings actually obtained by Woodbridge—continues to exist or whether an evidentiary copy was preserved, exported, transferred, archived, migrated, duplicated, or otherwise retained in connection with the subsequent Internal Affairs investigation.

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,

Bruce