Pequannock Township, Morris County: Promoting compliance with Internal Affairs Reporting.

The request was successful.

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:

Please note that I am making this request based on my belief that certain mandatory reports are either missing or inadequate on the Pequannock Police Department's website at https://www.peqtwp.org/211/Internal-Affa... or may be located elsewhere on a different webpage or website. If the records I am referring to are indeed available elsewhere, or if the police department has recently updated its website and the reports can be found in a place I haven't checked, kindly inform me of the URL where the "missing" files can be accessed. In such a case, please consider this OPRA (Open Public Records Act) request withdrawn.

To provide some context, according to Internal Affairs Policy & Procedures (IAPP) Section 9.11.1, the Pequannock Police Department is required to file annual reports with the Morris County Prosecutor and publish them on its webpage. These reports should summarize the types of complaints received and their dispositions in a statistical format. The department has been obligated to publish these reports on its webpage since at least 2020, even though the IAPP has undergone amendments. Notably, as of 2022, the summary reports must adhere to the format specified in the Annual Internal Affairs Summary provided in Appendix K. Prior to 2022, the use of Appendix K was optional.

Furthermore, as background information, IAPP Section 9.11.2 states that the Pequannock Police Department must file and publish annual reports on its website by January 31st, documenting instances of "major discipline" imposed during the previous year. Similar to the previous requirement, the department has been responsible for publishing these major discipline reports online in some form and submitting them to the Morris County Prosecutor since at least 2020. Starting with the 2022 report, these reports are required to follow the format outlined in Appendix L.

Today, I visited the aforementioned webpage to access the Department's Internal Affairs reports, which are mandated to be available on the webpage according to IAPP Section 9.11.1 and 9.11.2. However, I discovered that the reports I am requesting below are either missing or inadequate. It is my belief that the Pequannock Police Department is in violation of IAPP Section 9.11.1 and 9.11.2 for not having appropriate versions of these reports on its website. (Inadequacies are noted in the comments.)

I want to clarify that the purpose of this request is not to obtain the following records for myself. Instead, it is intended to kindly prompt the Pequannock Police Department to upload the missing or inadequate reports to its website, thereby ensuring compliance with the IAPP and making these important reports accessible to the public. THEREFORE, THE Pequannock POLICE DEPARTMENT CAN FULFILL THIS REQUEST BY UPLOADING THE REQUESTED REPORTS TO ITS WEBPAGE OR WEBSITE AND NOTIFYING ME, IN RESPONSE TO THIS OPRA REQUEST, THAT IT HAS DONE SO. If, for any reason, the Pequannock Police Department is unwilling to upload the identified reports, please provide them to me in response to this request.

RECORDS REQUESTED:

2022 IA Summary Report

COMMENTS: None.

--end of request

Carol Marsh, Pequannock Township

1 Attachment

In response to your request for public records, a copy of which is
attached,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention - the missing report was an
oversight on our part which has been corrected.

The reqested records can be accessed on the Township’s website here:

[1]https://www.peqtwp.org/211/Internal-Affa...

 

Please feel free to contact us should you need further information.

Regards,

• Carol

 

Carol J. Marsh

Township Clerk

Township of Pequannock

530 Newark-Pompton Turnpike

Pompton Plains, NJ 07444-1799

[2][email address]

(973) 835-5700 x.121

(973) 835-1152 (fax)

 

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 Pequannock 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 [3][email address], or
at their web site at [4]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.

 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.peqtwp.org/211/Internal-Affa...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.state.nj.us/grc

Thank you, Ms. Marsh. This OPRA request is fulfilled/closed.

John Paff