Records From Arrests
Dear Lower Township,
This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form. Please acknowledge receipt of this message.
Records requested:
Lower Township Police Department has issued media and public advisories regarding the following incidents:
1. 10/25/18, "Villas Man Resists Arrest During A Domestic Violence Incident" press release available at https://local.nixle.com/alert/6888018/
2. 3/31/19 at 9:44 pm, Oregon Avenue. "Lower Township Police arrest man with a knife..." press release available at https://local.nixle.com/alert/7207450/
3. 3/24/19 "Man Arrested After Aggravated Assault in North Cape May", press release available at https://local.nixle.com/alert/7189588/
4. 2/10/19 arrest of Meghan M. Montgomery/27, Villas, NJ – Under the Influence of CDS Without a Prescription, Possession/Use Drug Paraphernalia, Contempt of Court
5. 1/20/19 Frank P. Gillice/70, Cape May Court House, NJ – Possession of 50g or Less of Marijuana
I request a complete and unedited electronic copy, transferred to me over the internet in the highest resolution and quality available, of all video records capturing or memorializing any portion of the incidents described above. Please include video records obtained from third parties, such as private CCTV video records, in your search for responsive records.
Regarding #2 I am only interested in video records capturing the initial complaint and the eventual arrest of the suspect at his home.
Regarding #4 I am only interested in records relating to this arrest if the arrestee was in fact arrested at the court house for drug possession.
All responsive records can be easily and securely uploaded directly to a pre-assigned folder in my Dropbox account using the link below. There is no fee involved on the Department's side and there is no need to create an account or download anything.
If records are provided using a different large-file transfer service, please send the files to the email address [email address].
Thank you.
Real World Police News Staff
*On the chance that it is relevant, the basis for my common law request is as a representative of the news media and a proxy for the people's interest in the activities of its government, and - particularly - in being aware to the greatest extent reasonably possible of incidents of alleged criminal activity and the associated law enforcement response. I am a full-time journalist covering United States law enforcement. On a daily basis between 300,000 and 1,000,000+ unique viewers spend a cumulative six to ten-plus years actively engaged with the stories I research and publish.
Yours faithfully,
Real World Media, LLC
Regarding Request #1. I must deny the request based on the following
exemption.
Victims’ records a. an individually-identifiable file or document held by
a victims' rights agency which pertains directly to a victim of a crime
except that a victim of a crime shall have access to the victim's own
records. "Victims' rights agency" means a public agency, or part thereof,
the primary responsibility of which is providing services, Updated 8/2017
2 including but not limited to food, shelter, or clothing, medical,
psychiatric, psychological or legal services or referrals, information and
referral services, counseling and support services, or financial services
to victims of crimes, including victims of sexual assault, domestic
violence, violent crime, child endangerment, child abuse or child neglect,
and the Victims of Crime Compensation Board. b. any written OPRA request
by a crime victim for a record to which the victim is entitled to access,
including, but not limited to, any law enforcement agency report, domestic
violence offense report, and temporary or permanent restraining order;
A search for the remaining records requested is currently being conducted
and will be provided if the records exist. Thank you for your request and
we will respond promptly. Also, please be advised that this week we are
conducting our Police Camp for kids and our staffing is limited as many
are volunteering to assist with the camp but we will certainly work as
diligently as possible on your request.
Regarding your specifics on two of your requests…..
“Regarding #2 I am only interested in video records capturing the initial
complaint and the eventual arrest of the suspect at his home.”
This will probably be the entire video that we have regarding the matter.
“Regarding #4 I am only interested in records relating to this arrest if
the arrestee was in fact arrested at the court house for drug possession.”
I don’t believe that to be the case but will let you know.
Thanks again. I will reply again if and when the records are available.
Captain Martin Biersbach
Executive Officer
Lower Township Police Department
405 Breakwater Road
Erma, NJ 08204
(609) 886-1619 ext 111
[1][email address]
[2]Triangle New Small
[3][env+email+sig.bmp]
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTE: The information contained in this transmission,
including any attachments, may be a confidential attorney communication or
may contain privileged or confidential information intended only for the
use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended
recipient, you must not, directly or indirectly, use or disclose all or
any part of this message. If you believe that you have received this
message in error, please delete it and all copies of it and notify the
sender immediately by reply e-mail or contact the Lower Township Police
Department at 609-886-2711.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
Dear Captain Martin Biersbach,
Thank you. Take your time. I am in no rush on this.
Yours sincerely,
Real World Media, LLC
I didn't get your dropbox link. I have a large amount of video. I don't have the capacity to review it all without taking months away from your request so I would appreciate your respecting any privacy issues that might be present but I don't believe that to be the case.
Again for #1 in light of the fact that the incident involves domestic violence I must deny this request. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1 specifically exempts records associated with domestic violence from disclosure. More specifically, “A government record shall not include the following information which is deemed to be confidential for the purposes of P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.) as amended and supplemented … victims’ records, except that a victim of a crime shall have access to the victim’s own records; any written request by a crime victim for a record to which the victim is entitled to access as provided in this section, including, but not limited to, any law enforcement agency report, domestic violence offense report, and temporary or permanent restraining order…” The New Jersey Prevention of Domestic Violence also specifically provides that “All records maintained pursuant to this act shall be confidential and shall not be made available to any individual or institution except as otherwise provided by law.” N.J.S.A. 2C:25-33(a)(7).
#2 and #3 I have ready to upload although I anticipate it taking some time.
#4 There are no responsive records relative to this request. It was not at a courthouse.
#5 There are no responsive records relative to this request. Any records which were responsive to the request have been purged in accordance with the LTPD's applicable record retention policy.
Please let me know how you would like #2 and #3 sent
Captain Martin Biersbach
Executive Officer
Lower Township Police Department
405 Breakwater Road
Erma, NJ 08204
(609) 886-1619 ext 111
[email address]
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTE: The information contained in this transmission, including any attachments, may be a confidential attorney communication or may contain privileged or confidential information intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not, directly or indirectly, use or disclose all or any part of this message. If you believe that you have received this message in error, please delete it and all copies of it and notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail or contact the Lower Township Police Department at 609-886-2711.
Dear Captain Martin Biersbach,
I had tried sending the link here but it must not have gone through. I will email you directly.
Yours sincerely,
Real World Media, LLC
I attempted uploading a zip file I made but I think it may have been too big for your account (38GB) because it gave me an error. I'm trying to split into 2 files but could you tell me if there is a file size limit for your account so I can adjust accordingly?
Captain Martin Biersbach
Executive Officer
Lower Township Police Department
405 Breakwater Road
Erma, NJ 08204
(609) 886-1619 ext 111
[email address]
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTE: The information contained in this transmission, including any attachments, may be a confidential attorney communication or may contain privileged or confidential information intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not, directly or indirectly, use or disclose all or any part of this message. If you believe that you have received this message in error, please delete it and all copies of it and notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail or contact the Lower Township Police Department at 609-886-2711.
Dear Captain Martin Biersbach,
Thank you. Dropbox claims that there is a 20 GB per individual file, 5 TB per upload limit. (I recently received a zip file pushing 100 GB and therefore assumed that 20 GB was a soft limit — apparently not.)
An alternative method you might want to try: The idea behind zip files is to not have to concern yourself with moving many smaller files around, or having to individually click upload, select a file, click open, etc. for each file.
The thing is, Dropbox allows you to select multiple videos (multiple files, really) at once. Therefore, if you put all of the videos in the same folder, click Choose Files, and then navigate to that folder, you should then be able to click one of the videos to select it, click Ctrl+A to Select All, and then click Open to continue as if it was a single file. That should add to the upload all of the individual files in one shot. (I just tried doing that with 150 files on my machine and it worked.)
Thanks again, Captain Biersbach.
Yours sincerely,
Real World Media, LLC
Understood. Incident #2 is on the way. Incident #3 I am sending in 4 zip folders. If you unzip them all into the same folder you will have what you need. The mp4 files are in folders but a Player is included in the folder for all the videos. Incident #2 will show you what I mean.