We are in receipt of your request dated:  October 6th. 
Hillary Singer
Assistant to the Municipal Clerk
Chatham Borough
p. 973.635.0674 ext. 210

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

From: Anonymous <[OPRA #81658 email]>
Sent: Saturday, October 4, 2025 10:46 AM
To: clerk <[Chatham Borough request email]>
Subject: OPRA request - Request for Records of Lawsuits and Investigations
Involving Officer Jeffrey Battiloro – Chatham Borough Police Department
 
[Some people who received this message don't often get email from
[OPRA #81658 email]. Learn why this is
important at [1]https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific... ]

CAUTION: This email has originated from outside of the organization. Do
not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and
know the content is safe.

Dear Chatham Borough,

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:

Pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et
seq.), I am requesting all records related to civil lawsuits, legal
complaints, notices of claim, internal affairs investigations,
disciplinary actions, and citizen or internal complaints involving Chatham
Borough Police Officer Jeffrey Battiloro, including case numbers, parties
involved, and outcomes or findings, from the earliest available date to
the present; please provide the records in electronic format, and if any
part of this request is denied, kindly include the legal basis for the
denial.

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.

Yours faithfully,

Anonymous

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please deliver records electronically via email to the below UNIQUE
address for all replies to this request:

[OPRA #81658 email]

Is [Chatham Borough request email] the wrong address for OPRA requests to Chatham
Borough? If so, please contact us using this form:

[2]https://opramachine.com/change_request/n...

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/request_...

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.

"OPRAmachine’s mission is to give people easy and affordable access to New
Jersey public records.

For more information, contact us at: ‪(732) 707-1628‬ or PO Box 3180, New
Brunswick, NJ 08903."

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The Borough of Chatham Custodian of Records received your anonymous Open
Public Records Act (“OPRA”) request on Saturday, October 4, 2025, with a
response due by the Borough on or before Wednesday, October 15, 2025. This
response is therefore being timely submitted in accordance with New Jersey
law. See N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.

 

Your OPRA request is set forth below:

 

I am requesting all records related to civil lawsuits, legal complaints,
notices of claim, internal affairs investigations, disciplinary actions,
and citizen or internal complaints involving Chatham Borough Police
Officer Jeffrey Battiloro, including case numbers, parties involved, and
outcomes or findings, from the earliest available date to the present;
please provide the records in electronic format, and if any part of this
request is denied, kindly include the legal basis for the denial.

 

Initially, this request, which seeks “all records” relating to a number of
categories involving a Borough employee over an unspecified period of
time, fails to meet OPRA’s specificity requirements and thus in large part
is invalid.

 

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).  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).

 

Additionally, the Borough is unsure of what is meant by the terms “legal
complaints” or “citizen or internal complaints” in this context and thus
cannot properly respond to this portion of your request.  

 

 

 

Vanessa L. Nienhouse, RMC, CMC
Municipal Clerk
Certified Planning & Zoning Secretary
Borough of Chatham
973 - 701 - 6803

[1]photo

 

 

 

 

From: Hillary Singer <[email address]>
Sent: Monday, October 6, 2025 9:53 AM
To: Anonymous <[OPRA #81658 email]>;
clerk <[Chatham Borough request email]>
Subject: Re: OPRA request - Request for Records of Lawsuits and
Investigations Involving Officer Jeffrey Battiloro – Chatham Borough
Police Department

 

 

We are in receipt of your request dated:  October 6th. 

 

Hillary Singer

Assistant to the Municipal Clerk

Chatham Borough

p. 973.635.0674 ext. 210

════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

From: Anonymous <[2][OPRA #81658 email]>
Sent: Saturday, October 4, 2025 10:46 AM
To: clerk <[3][Chatham Borough request email]>
Subject: OPRA request - Request for Records of Lawsuits and Investigations
Involving Officer Jeffrey Battiloro – Chatham Borough Police Department

 

[Some people who received this message don't often get email from
[4][OPRA #81658 email]. Learn why this is
important at [5]https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific... ]

CAUTION: This email has originated from outside of the organization. Do
not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and
know the content is safe.

Dear Chatham Borough,

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:

Pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et
seq.), I am requesting all records related to civil lawsuits, legal
complaints, notices of claim, internal affairs investigations,
disciplinary actions, and citizen or internal complaints involving Chatham
Borough Police Officer Jeffrey Battiloro, including case numbers, parties
involved, and outcomes or findings, from the earliest available date to
the present; please provide the records in electronic format, and if any
part of this request is denied, kindly include the legal basis for the
denial.

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.

Yours faithfully,

Anonymous

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please deliver records electronically via email to the below UNIQUE
address for all replies to this request:

[6][OPRA #81658 email]

Is [7][Chatham Borough request email] the wrong address for OPRA requests to
Chatham Borough? If so, please contact us using this form:

[8]https://opramachine.com/change_request/n...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[9]https://opramachine.com/help/officers

View this OPRA request & responses online:

[10]https://opramachine.com/request/request_...

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.

"OPRAmachine’s mission is to give people easy and affordable access to New
Jersey public records.

For more information, contact us at: ‪(732) 707-1628 or PO Box 3180, New
Brunswick, NJ 08903."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

References

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6. mailto:[OPRA #81658 email]
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