Police Records Request
Dear Hackensack City,
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-6(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:
Police Body worn camera footage of all motor vehicle accidents between 8-1 and 8-7-25
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.
The maximum authorized cost is $0.
Yours faithfully,
Tony Michael
As of October 1, 2025 City Clerk Deborah Karlsson has retired from the
City of Hackensack.
We thank her for her 18 years of service to the City of Hackensack and 20+
years of local governement service and wish her the best in her
retirement.
Please forward all emails to Deputy City Clerk Allison Saabye at
[email address]
Thank you.
Good morning,
Please be advised that your request is overly broad, as it fails to identify with reasonable clarity any particular records sought. OPRA operates to make identifiable government records “readily accessible for inspection, copying, or examination.” N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1. New Jersey courts have consistently held that OPRA does not countenance open-ended searches of an agency’s files. MAG Entm’t, LLC v. Div. of ABC, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 549 (App. Div. 2005); New Jersey Builders Ass’n v. New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing, 390 N.J. Super. 166 (App. Div.), cert. denied, 190 N.J. 394 (2007). Consequently, a proper request under OPRA “must identify with reasonable clarity those documents that are desired, and a party cannot satisfy this requirement by simply requesting all of an agency’s documents.” See e.g., Spectraserv, Inc. v. Middlesex Cty. Utilities Auth., 416 N.J. Super. 565, 576 (App. Div. 2010); Bent v. Twp. of Stafford Police Dep’t, 381 N.J. Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005). OPRA requests may not be a broad generic description of documents that require the custodian to search the agency’s files and “analyze, compile, and collate” the requested information. Id.; see also Lagerkvist v. Office of Governor of State, 443 N.J. Super. 230, 237 (App. Div. 2015) (holding that OPRA does not convert a custodian into a researcher, which would have been the effect of the request).
Please provide the case number(s) for the body worn camera footage you are seeking in order for the Hackensack Police Department to thoroughly search their records.
Thank you,
Kaitlyn Green
City Clerk’s Office – OPRA Clerk
65 Central Avenue, 3rd Floor
Hackensack, NJ 07601
(P): 201-646-3940
(F): 201-457-1466
[email address]