Riverdale Borough, Morris County: Promoting compliance with Internal Affairs Reporting.
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 Riverdale Police Department's website at https://www.riverdalenj.gov/Departments/... 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 In such a case, please consider this OPRA (Open Public Records Act) request withdrawn.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 Riverdale 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 Riverdale 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 Riverdale 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 Riverdale 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 Riverdale 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 Riverdale Police Department is unwilling to upload the identified reports, please provide them to me in response to this request.
RECORDS REQUESTED:
2020 IA Summary Report
2021 IA Summary Report
2022 IA Summary Report
2020 Major Discipline Report
2021 Major Discipline Report
2022 Major Discipline Report
COMMENTS: 2022 IA Summary not in the form of Appendix K.
--end of request
Mr. Paff
Documents have been uploaded.
THEREFORE, THE Riverdale 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.
Theresa M. Pellegrini
Riverdale Police Department
[email address]
________________________________________
From: Lisa O'Neill [[email address]]
Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2023 10:20 AM
To: Terri Pellegrini
Cc: Chuck Quant Jr
Subject: FW: OPRA request - Riverdale Borough, Morris County: Promoting compliance with Internal Affairs Reporting.
Good Morning,
Please see below.
Thank you,
Lisa
From: AJ Jalloh <[Riverdale Borough request email]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2023 10:15 AM
To: Paul Purcell <[email address]>; Robert Oostdyk <[email address]>; Lisa O'Neill <[email address]>
Subject: Fwd: OPRA request - Riverdale Borough, Morris County: Promoting compliance with Internal Affairs Reporting.
From: John Paff <[OPRA #44366 email]<mailto:[OPRA #44366 email]>>
Date: May 29, 2023 at 4:13:59 PM EDT
To: AJ Jalloh <[Riverdale Borough request email]<mailto:[Riverdale Borough request email]>>
Subject: OPRA request - Riverdale Borough, Morris County: Promoting compliance with Internal Affairs Reporting.
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 Riverdale Police Department's website at https://www.riverdalenj.gov/Departments/... 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 Riverdale 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 Riverdale 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 Riverdale 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 Riverdale 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 Riverdale 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 Riverdale Police Department is unwilling to upload the identified reports, please provide them to me in response to this request.
RECORDS REQUESTED:
2020 IA Summary Report
2021 IA Summary Report
2022 IA Summary Report
2020 Major Discipline Report
2021 Major Discipline Report
2022 Major Discipline Report
COMMENTS: 2022 IA Summary not in the form of Appendix K.
--end of request
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Dear Ms. Pellegrini:
The only problem, as I noted in my original OPRA, is that the 2022 IA Summary Form is not in the form of Appendix K. The formatting of the report was optional pre-2022 but was made mandatory by the November 2022 version of the IAPP.
This isn't a trivial stylistic concern. Check Boonton Town's Appendix K at the link below and compare it to Riverdale's 2022 IA report. Note how much more useful information that Boonton's provides to the public.
boonton.org/DocumentCenter/View/4859/Town-of-Boonton-Appendix-K-2022
Can you amend the link to show Riverdale's Appendix K? This shouldn't be a big problem because Riverdale already has its Appendix K prepared because it needed to file it earlier this year with the Morris County Prosecutor.
Please advise. Thank you.
John Paff
2022 AI Report has been updated.
Theresa M. Pellegrini
Riverdale Police Department
[email address]
________________________________________
From: John Paff [[OPRA #44366 email]]
Sent: Thursday, June 1, 2023 2:23 PM
To: Terri Pellegrini
Subject: RE: OPRA request - Riverdale Borough, Morris County: Promoting compliance with Internal Affairs Reporting.
Dear Ms. Pellegrini:
The only problem, as I noted in my original OPRA, is that the 2022 IA Summary Form is not in the form of Appendix K. The formatting of the report was optional pre-2022 but was made mandatory by the November 2022 version of the IAPP.
This isn't a trivial stylistic concern. Check Boonton Town's Appendix K at the link below and compare it to Riverdale's 2022 IA report. Note how much more useful information that Boonton's provides to the public.
boonton.org/DocumentCenter/View/4859/Town-of-Boonton-Appendix-K-2022
Can you amend the link to show Riverdale's Appendix K? This shouldn't be a big problem because Riverdale already has its Appendix K prepared because it needed to file it earlier this year with the Morris County Prosecutor.
Please advise. Thank you.
John Paff
Your welcome!
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
From: John Paff <[OPRA #44366 email]>
Sent: Friday, June 2, 2023 4:29 PM
To: Terri Pellegrini <[email address]>
Subject: RE: OPRA request - Riverdale Borough, Morris County: Promoting
compliance with Internal Affairs Reporting.
Thank you, Ms. Pellegrini:
This OPRA request is closed.
John Paff