Please accept this as my request for government records under both OPRA and the common law right of access. Thank you very much for your commitment to transparent government.

BACKGROUND:

Earlier this year, I noted that the Paterson Police Department had two deficiencies in the matter in which is complied with the public reporting requirement set forth in Sections 9.11.1 and 9.11.2 of the Internal Affairs Policy & Procedures (IAPP).

The first deficiency was that Paterson's Major Discipline Reporting forms for the years 2021 and 2022 were not on the department's website, as required by Section 9.11.2. On February 18, 2023, I brought this deficiency to Police Captain Louis DeLucca's attention. On March 16, 2023, Captain DeLucca informed me that the two missing Major Discipline Reports had been uploaded and I have confirmed that this deficiency has been corrected (I had also complained of the figures in 2020 and 2021 Summary Reports were inconsistent with each other, but that is a topic for another day).

The second deficiency was a) that versions of the Summary Reports for 2020 and 2021 shown on the Police Department's website did not include the left-most and right-most columns and b) that the website displayed only the first page of the 2022 summary report instead of the full eight pages. In order to correct these deficiencies, I submitted an OPRA request (No. CA23:0383) seeking "the Paterson Police Department's Internal Affairs summary reports (i.e. those required to be filed by IAPP Section 9.11.1) covering 2020, 2021 and 2022. Please ensure that the 2022 report is in the form of an Appendix K."

Note that the Paterson Police Department's website where the reports are maintained is at the first link below and that screen shots of the 2020, 2021 and 2022 Summary Reports, as posted on the site, are at the second link below in a single PDF file:

patersonpd.com/internal-affairs/annual-internal-affairs-summary.html

drive.google.com/file/d/1iB1Am8yYSNWizvH6rUOQT4dT6Mo12iyl/view?usp=share_link

In response to my OPRA request, I received a March 16, 2023 response from Legal Analyst Lissette Trujillo Khan, JD, advising me that "at this time, there are no records to produce in response to your request."

I believe that the City's OPRA response is in error because the 2020 and 2021 Summary Reports clearly exist because they were present, albeit in a form that suppressed the left-most and right-most columns, on the Police Department's website before I made my OPRA request. Also, the first page of the 2022 Summary Report was then visible on the website, so the full eight-page report almost certainly exists as well.

RECORDS REQUESTED:

1. Versions of the City's 2020 and 2021 Summary Reports that show all the columns and rows.

2. All eight pages of the 2022 Summary Report in the form of Appendix K.

3. In lieu of sending me these files, I would prefer that you place them on the Police Department's website and notify that such has been done. This way, the City will be in compliance with Sections 9.11.1 and 9.11.2 of the Internal Affairs Policy & Procedures (IAPP).