Police Internal Affairs Reports, Transmittal Documents.
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:
At the outset, please be advised that this request is based on my belief that certain mandatory reports are missing from the Hamburg Police Department's website at http://www.hamburgpolice.org/ If the records that I claim to be missing are actually present on a different website or webpage (perhaps the police department recently changed its website or perhaps the reports are in a place that I didn't check), please inform me of the URL where the "missing" files reside and consider this OPRA request withdrawn.
I visited the above noted webpage today to read the Department's Internal Affairs reports required to placed on the webpage by Internal Affairs Policies & Procedures (IAPP) Section 9.11.1 and 9.11.2. However, I could find only a report stating "that no major disciplinary actions were sanctioned during the reporting period time period of June 15, 2020 through December 31, 2020." I assert that this information is not sufficient to satisfy IAPP Sections 9.11.1 and 9.11.2
By way of background, IAPP Section 9.11.1 requires the Hamburg Police Department to file with the Sussex County Prosecutor and to publish on its webpage annual "report[s] summarizing the types of complaints received and the dispositions of those complaints" which reports "should be statistical in nature." Even though the IAPP has been amended from time to time, the Department has been under a duty to publish these reports on its webpage since at least 2020. Notably, beginning in 2022, the summary reports are required to be in the form required by IAPP Appendix K. Prior to 2022, the use of Appendix K was optional.
Also, by way of background, IAPP Section 9.11.2 requires the Hamburg Police Department, on or prior to January 31st, to file and publish on its website annual reports collecting instances of "major discipline" imposed during the previous year. Again, although the IAPP has gone through a few amendments, it has been a duty of the Hamburg Police Department to publish those major discipline reports on-line, in one form or another, and to file them with the Sussex County Prosecutor since at least 2020. Notably, the reports, beginning with the 2022 report, "shall follow the format provided in Appendix L."
I believe that the Hamburg Police Department is in violation of IAPP Section 9.11.1 for not having its 2020, 2021and 2022 summary reports posted on-line and for not having the 2022 summary report in the form of Appendix K. I further believe that the Hamburg Police Department is in violation of IAPP Section 9.11.2 for not having its major discipline reports from 2021 and 2022 posted on its website and for failing to have its 2022 report provided in Appendix L's format.
The object of this request is to learn if the missing reports exist and, if so to learn whether they were filed with the Sussex County Prosecutor as required by IAPP Section 9.11.1 and 2.
RECORDS REQUESTED:
1. Transmittal letters, e-mails or other writings that accompanied the filing of the Hamburg 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 with the Sussex County Prosecutor.
2. The Hamburg 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.
3. Transmittal letters, e-mails or other writings that accompanied the filing of the Hamburg Police Department's Internal Affairs major discipline reports (i.e. those required to be filed by IAPP Section 9.11.2) covering 2021 and 2022 with the Sussex County Prosecutor.
4. The Hamburg Police Department's Internal Affairs major discipline reports (i.e. those required to be filed by IAPP Section 9.11.2) covering 2021 and 2022.
5. In lieu of responding to Nos. 1 through 4 above, the Hamburg Police Department may satisfy this request by a) uploading the summary reports covering 2020, 2021 and 2022 and the major discipline reports covering 2021 and 2022 to its webpage and b) notifying me, via OPRAMachine, that it has done so. I would actually prefer this because it would make those important reports available to everyone in the public, not just me.
Good morning,
I received the email requesting that the Major Discipline Summary Reports
and Internal Affairs Complaints be made available to our website for the
years 2020, 2021, and 2022. Our department has 0 Major Disciplines for
those years and I have contacted our website provider to update the site
to provide that information along with the links to put it into the format
your requesting. The Internal Affairs Summary Reports will also have a
link in the format you requested in the email. I would imagine that we
would have this completed by the end of this week. If for some reason it's
not, I will let you know the timeline in which our website technician will
need to complete it. If you have any questions or need additional
information please let me know.
Thank you,
--
******************************************************************************
Gianna McCall
Administrative Assistant
Hamburg Borough Police Department
9 Orchard Street
Hamburg, NJ 07419
973-827-6211 / Fax: 973-827-0436
[1][email address]
*******************************************************************************
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Thank you for your cooperation.
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1. mailto:[email address]
Dear Ms. McCall,
Thank you very much for your prompt response. Would you please let me know when the webpage is fully updated? Upon receipt, I will acknowledge that this request is fulfilled and close my file.
Very truly yours,
John Paff
Yes, as soon as the website is complete I will send you an e-mail to
confirm that it's been done.
Thank you,
On Tue, Feb 21, 2023 at 12:47 PM John Paff
<[1][OPRA #40236 email]> wrote:
Dear Ms. McCall,
Thank you very much for your prompt response. Would you please let me
know when the webpage is fully updated? Upon receipt, I will
acknowledge that this request is fulfilled and close my file.
Very truly yours,
John Paff
-----Original Message-----
Good morning,
I received the email requesting that the Major Discipline Summary
Reports
and Internal Affairs Complaints be made available to our website for
the
years 2020, 2021, and 2022. Our department has 0 Major Disciplines for
those years and I have contacted our website provider to update the
site
to provide that information along with the links to put it into the
format
your requesting. The Internal Affairs Summary Reports will also have a
link in the format you requested in the email. I would imagine that we
would have this completed by the end of this week. If for some reason
it's
not, I will let you know the timeline in which our website technician
will
need to complete it. If you have any questions or need additional
information please let me know.
Thank you,
--
******************************************************************************
Gianna McCall
Administrative Assistant
Hamburg Borough Police Department
9 Orchard Street
Hamburg, NJ 07419
973-827-6211 / Fax: 973-827-0436
[1][email address]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this UNIQUE email address for all replies to this request and
no other:
[2][OPRA #40236 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published
on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[3]https://opramachine.com/help/officers
View this OPRA request & responses online:
[4]https://opramachine.com/request/police_i...
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
--
******************************************************************************
Gianna McCall
Administrative Assistant
Hamburg Borough Police Department
9 Orchard Street
Hamburg, NJ 07419
973-827-6211 / Fax: 973-827-0436
[5][email address]
*******************************************************************************
This e-mail and any attachments may be confidential or legally privileged.
If you received this
message in error or are not the intended recipient, you should destroy the
e-mail message
and any attachments or copies, and you are prohibited from retaining,
distributing,
disclosing, or using any information contained herein. Please inform us
of the erroneous
delivery by return e-mail.
Thank you for your cooperation.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://opramachine.com/help/officers
4. https://opramachine.com/request/police_i...
5. mailto:[email address]
Hello Mr Paff
Please see below with regards to your OPRA request received on February
19, 2023. As indicated by the police department the requested information
has been sent to our webmaster so he can have the information uploaded to
our website.
Thank you
Doreen Schott, Clerk
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Gianna McCall <[1][email address]>
Date: Tue, Feb 21, 2023 at 11:03 AM
Subject: OPRA
To: [2][email address] <[3][email address]>
Cc: Doreen Schott <[4][email address]>
Good morning,
I received the email requesting that the Major Discipline Summary Reports
and Internal Affairs Complaints be made available to our website for the
years 2020, 2021, and 2022. Our department has 0 Major Disciplines and I
have contacted Bill to update the site to provide that information along
with the links to put it into the format it's requesting it be listed in.
The Internal Affairs Summary Reports will also have a link in the format
they request in this email. I would imagine that we would have this
completed by the end of this week. If for some reason it's not, I will let
you know the timeline in which Bill will need to complete it. If you have
any questions or need additional information please let me know.
Thank you,
--
******************************************************************************
Gianna McCall
Administrative Assistant
Hamburg Borough Police Department
9 Orchard Street
Hamburg, NJ 07419
973-827-6211 / Fax: 973-827-0436
[5][email address]
*******************************************************************************
This e-mail and any attachments may be confidential or legally privileged.
If you received this
message in error or are not the intended recipient, you should destroy the
e-mail message
and any attachments or copies, and you are prohibited from retaining,
distributing,
disclosing, or using any information contained herein. Please inform us
of the erroneous
delivery by return e-mail.
Thank you for your cooperation.
--
Please note: The e-mail address boro_clerk[6]@hamburgnj.org has been
updated to [7][email address]
Doreen Schott
Municipal Clerk
Borough of Hamburg
973-827-9230 Ext. 4010
This e-mail and any attachments may be confidential or legally privileged.
If you received this message in error or are not the intended recipient,
you
should destroy the e-mail message and any attachments or copies, and are
prohibited from retaining, distributing, disclosing, or using any
information
contained herein. Please inform us of the erroneous delivery by return
e-mail.
Thank-you for your cooperation.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[email address]
5. mailto:[email address]
6. mailto:[email address]
7. mailto:[email address]
Good morning,
I am happy to inform you that your website is complete and up to date with
the reports you requested. If there is anything else that you need please
feel free to reach out to me and we will get it taken care of.
Thank you
On Tue, Feb 21, 2023 at 12:55 PM Gianna McCall
<[1][email address]> wrote:
Yes, as soon as the website is complete I will send you an e-mail to
confirm that it's been done.
Thank you,
On Tue, Feb 21, 2023 at 12:47 PM John Paff
<[2][OPRA #40236 email]> wrote:
Dear Ms. McCall,
Thank you very much for your prompt response. Would you please let me
know when the webpage is fully updated? Upon receipt, I will
acknowledge that this request is fulfilled and close my file.
Very truly yours,
John Paff
-----Original Message-----
Good morning,
I received the email requesting that the Major Discipline Summary
Reports
and Internal Affairs Complaints be made available to our website for
the
years 2020, 2021, and 2022. Our department has 0 Major Disciplines
for
those years and I have contacted our website provider to update the
site
to provide that information along with the links to put it into the
format
your requesting. The Internal Affairs Summary Reports will also have
a
link in the format you requested in the email. I would imagine that
we
would have this completed by the end of this week. If for some reason
it's
not, I will let you know the timeline in which our website technician
will
need to complete it. If you have any questions or need additional
information please let me know.
Thank you,
--
******************************************************************************
Gianna McCall
Administrative Assistant
Hamburg Borough Police Department
9 Orchard Street
Hamburg, NJ 07419
973-827-6211 / Fax: 973-827-0436
[1][email address]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this UNIQUE email address for all replies to this request
and no other:
[3][OPRA #40236 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published
on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[4]https://opramachine.com/help/officers
View this OPRA request & responses online:
[5]https://opramachine.com/request/police_i...
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
--
******************************************************************************
Gianna McCall
Administrative Assistant
Hamburg Borough Police Department
9 Orchard Street
Hamburg, NJ 07419
973-827-6211 / Fax: 973-827-0436
[6][email address]
*******************************************************************************
This e-mail and any attachments may be confidential or legally
privileged. If you received this
message in error or are not the intended recipient, you should destroy
the e-mail message
and any attachments or copies, and you are prohibited from retaining,
distributing,
disclosing, or using any information contained herein. Please inform us
of the erroneous
delivery by return e-mail.
Thank you for your cooperation.
--
******************************************************************************
Gianna McCall
Administrative Assistant
Hamburg Borough Police Department
9 Orchard Street
Hamburg, NJ 07419
973-827-6211 / Fax: 973-827-0436
[7][email address]
*******************************************************************************
This e-mail and any attachments may be confidential or legally privileged.
If you received this
message in error or are not the intended recipient, you should destroy the
e-mail message
and any attachments or copies, and you are prohibited from retaining,
distributing,
disclosing, or using any information contained herein. Please inform us
of the erroneous
delivery by return e-mail.
Thank you for your cooperation.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. https://opramachine.com/help/officers
5. https://opramachine.com/request/police_i...
6. mailto:[email address]
7. mailto:[email address]
Dear Ms. McCall:
Thank you for the update. This still is, unfortunately, one problem.
The 2022 Summary Report that was placed on-line is not in the form of Appendix K. Appendix K, set forth in full, has a lot more information on it than the single-page summary provided to the public on the the Department's website. Note that Internal Affairs Policies & Procedures (IAPP) Section 9.11.1 specifically mandates that "[t]he Annual Internal Affairs summary attached to Appendix K shall be used to satisfy the requirements of this Section." So, strictly speaking, Hamburg is in violation of the IAPP for not having its Appendix K on the Internet for the public to see.
This is not a trivial concern. According to the No. 5 of the Appendix K instruction sheet on the OAG's website:
The first page of the [Appendix K] report is a rough categorization of initial allegations, discipline, and a few other metrics for cases closed in the reporting period" while pages 2-3 summarize all cases by initial or sustained allegation and provide several views of complaint source, case length, and criminal and internal outcomes, pages 4-5 present detailed information on allegations of "Other rule violation.” Pages 6-7 present detailed information on allegations of "Criminal violation.” and page 8 presents an overview of discipline by most serious sustained allegation, first with "Criminal violation” and "Other rule violation" collapsed and then with each broken out.
I consider this OPRA request closed, but I don't consider this issue closed. I ask that you please upload the full 2022 Appendix K as soon as possible.
Thank you.
John Paff
Ok I will get this update through IA and our website team.
Thank you so much
On Wed, Mar 15, 2023 at 9:48 AM John Paff
<[1][OPRA #40236 email]> wrote:
Dear Ms. McCall:
Thank you for the update. This still is, unfortunately, one problem.
The 2022 Summary Report that was placed on-line is not in the form of
Appendix K. Appendix K, set forth in full, has a lot more information on
it than the single-page summary provided to the public on the the
Department's website. Note that Internal Affairs Policies & Procedures
(IAPP) Section 9.11.1 specifically mandates that "[t]he Annual Internal
Affairs summary attached to Appendix K shall be used to satisfy the
requirements of this Section." So, strictly speaking, Hamburg is in
violation of the IAPP for not having its Appendix K on the Internet for
the public to see.
This is not a trivial concern. According to the No. 5 of the Appendix K
instruction sheet on the OAG's website:
The first page of the [Appendix K] report is a rough categorization of
initial allegations, discipline, and a few other metrics for cases
closed in the reporting period" while pages 2-3 summarize all cases by
initial or sustained allegation and provide several views of complaint
source, case length, and criminal and internal outcomes, pages 4-5
present detailed information on allegations of "Other rule violation.”
Pages 6-7 present detailed information on allegations of "Criminal
violation.” and page 8 presents an overview of discipline by most
serious sustained allegation, first with "Criminal violation” and "Other
rule violation" collapsed and then with each broken out.
I consider this OPRA request closed, but I don't consider this issue
closed. I ask that you please upload the full 2022 Appendix K as soon
as possible.
Thank you.
John Paff
-----Original Message-----
Good morning,
I am happy to inform you that your website is complete and up to date
with
the reports you requested. If there is anything else that you need
please
feel free to reach out to me and we will get it taken care of.
Thank you
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this UNIQUE email address for all replies to this request and
no other:
[2][OPRA #40236 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published
on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[3]https://opramachine.com/help/officers
View this OPRA request & responses online:
[4]https://opramachine.com/request/police_i...
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
--
******************************************************************************
Gianna McCall
Administrative Assistant
Hamburg Borough Police Department
9 Orchard Street
Hamburg, NJ 07419
973-827-6211 / Fax: 973-827-0436
[5][email address]
*******************************************************************************
This e-mail and any attachments may be confidential or legally privileged.
If you received this
message in error or are not the intended recipient, you should destroy the
e-mail message
and any attachments or copies, and you are prohibited from retaining,
distributing,
disclosing, or using any information contained herein. Please inform us
of the erroneous
delivery by return e-mail.
Thank you for your cooperation.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://opramachine.com/help/officers
4. https://opramachine.com/request/police_i...
5. mailto:[email address]