Please be advised the Police Department will need an additional 14
business days (until 7/15/25) due to staff unavailable and out of office.

Please note the 14 business days does not include Friday, July 4^th which
is a Borough Holiday which will bring it to 7/15/25.

Kathy

Kathleen Troast, RMC

Deputy Clerk

Borough of Pompton Lakes

25 Lenox Avenue

Pompton Lakes, NJ 07442

973-835-0143 ext. 222

[1]deputy[Pompton Lakes Borough request email]

References

Visible links
1. mailto:deputy[Pompton Lakes Borough request email]

I wanted to provide an update regarding your OPRA request for Pompton Lakes Police Department employee work schedules (including shift assignments) from January 1, 2017, through June 12, 2025.

The request is very extensive and requires many hours of processing so therefore the Police department will need additional 7 business days until July 24th in order to work towards completion of the request.

• No such records - Schedules from 2017–2018 were lawfully destroyed in accordance with state records retention guidelines.
• Schedules from 2019 up until the transition (around 2020) to our VCS system are available, and we are currently in the process of organizing them for release.
• No responsive records to the request - schedules within the VCS platform., the system does not generate a single report covering the requested timeframe.

From: William Santana <[OPRA #77499 email]>
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2025 5:03 PM
To: Elizabeth Brandsness <[Pompton Lakes Borough request email]>
Subject: OPRA request - Work Schedule

[NOTICE: This message originated outside of Pompton Lakes Borough -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you are sure the content is safe.]

Dear Pompton Lakes 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 OPRA, I request the work schedule (including shift assignments) for all employees of the Pompton Lakes Police Department for the period of 1/1/2017 to 6/12/2025. This should include employee names, dates, shifts worked, and assignments if available.

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,

William Santana

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

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

[OPRA #77499 email]

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

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:

https://opramachine.com/help/officers

View this OPRA request & responses online:

https://opramachine.com/request/work_sch...

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."

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

Mr. Santana,

I have received your request and will process.

Elizabeth Brandsness, RMC
Municipal Clerk / Deputy Administrator
Borough of Pompton Lakes
25 Lenox Avenue
Pompton Lakes, NJ 07442
973-835-0143 ext. 238

-----Original Message-----
From: William Santana <[OPRA #77499 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2025 6:55 PM
To: Elizabeth Brandsness <[Pompton Lakes Borough request email]>
Subject: Internal review of OPRA request - Work Schedule

[NOTICE: This message originated outside of Pompton Lakes Borough -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you are sure the content is safe.]

Dear Elizabeth Brandsness,

Please provide me with documentation showing when and how these documents from 2017 and 2018 were destroyed.

For schedules after 2020, please provide scheduling records or outputs from the VCS system, even if in partial, segmented, or uncompiled format (e.g., daily, weekly, or monthly reports; shift rosters; or any exported data).

Yours sincerely,

William Santana

-----Original Message-----

I wanted to provide an update regarding your OPRA request for Pompton Lakes Police Department employee work schedules (including shift assignments) from January 1, 2017, through June 12, 2025.

The request is very extensive and requires many hours of processing so therefore the Police department will need additional 7 business days until July 24th in order to work towards completion of the request.

• No such records - Schedules from 2017–2018 were lawfully destroyed in accordance with state records retention guidelines.

• Schedules from 2019 up until the transition (around 2020) to our VCS system are available, and we are currently in the process of organizing them for release.

• No responsive records to the request - schedules within the VCS platform., the system does not generate a single report covering the requested timeframe.

From: William Santana <[OPRA #77499 email]>

Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2025 5:03 PM

To: Elizabeth Brandsness <[Pompton Lakes Borough request email]>

Subject: OPRA request - Work Schedule

[NOTICE: This message originated outside of Pompton Lakes Borough -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you are sure the content is safe.]

Dear Pompton Lakes 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 OPRA, I request the work schedule (including shift assignments) for all employees of the Pompton Lakes Police Department for the period of 1/1/2017 to 6/12/2025. This should include employee names, dates, shifts worked, and assignments if available.

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,

William Santana

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

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

[OPRA #77499 email]

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

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:

https://opramachine.com/help/officers

View this OPRA request & responses online:

https://opramachine.com/request/work_sch...

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."

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

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

Please use this UNIQUE email address for all replies to this request and no other:

[OPRA #77499 email]

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

https://opramachine.com/help/officers

View this OPRA request & responses online:

https://opramachine.com/request/work_sch...

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.

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

hide quoted sections

Mr. Santana,

The request, as submitted, requires clarification because in its current form the response will be that no additional responsive records exist. To help with the clarification please see the below response from the Police Department concerning records.

With regard to scheduling records maintained within the VCS system (2020–present):

While historical data technically remains stored in the system, we have confirmed with the vendor that when an employee is marked as inactive, they are visually removed from all calendar-based scheduling reports. As a result, daily, weekly, or monthly reports generated through the standard VCS scheduling interface will not display complete or accurate schedules, as they omit inactive personnel.

Additionally, if an employee was ever deleted entirely from the VCS system, rather than merely marked inactive, all associated scheduling data is permanently lost and unrecoverable.

The only method to retrieve historical shift details for inactive employees is by generating customized reports through the Employee Ledger feature. However, the department does not routinely generate or retain these reports as part of normal operations. Creating them now would require running new reports specifically in response to this request, which would constitute the creation of new records—something not required under OPRA.

Given these limitations, we currently have no responsive records from the VCS system that accurately or comprehensively meet the parameters of your request. However, we remain willing to assist with any narrowed or revised request that aligns with existing, maintained records.

Captain Anthony J. Rodriguez
Officer in Charge
Pompton Lakes Police Dept.
25 Lenox Ave.
Pompton Lakes NJ, 07442
(973)835-0400
[email address]

Elizabeth Brandsness, RMC
Municipal Clerk / Deputy Administrator
Borough of Pompton Lakes
25 Lenox Avenue
Pompton Lakes, NJ 07442
973-835-0143 ext. 238

-----Original Message-----
From: William Santana <[OPRA #77499 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2025 6:55 PM
To: Elizabeth Brandsness <[Pompton Lakes Borough request email]>
Subject: Internal review of OPRA request - Work Schedule

[NOTICE: This message originated outside of Pompton Lakes Borough -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you are sure the content is safe.]

Dear Elizabeth Brandsness,

Please provide me with documentation showing when and how these documents from 2017 and 2018 were destroyed.

For schedules after 2020, please provide scheduling records or outputs from the VCS system, even if in partial, segmented, or uncompiled format (e.g., daily, weekly, or monthly reports; shift rosters; or any exported data).

Yours sincerely,

William Santana

-----Original Message-----

I wanted to provide an update regarding your OPRA request for Pompton Lakes Police Department employee work schedules (including shift assignments) from January 1, 2017, through June 12, 2025.

The request is very extensive and requires many hours of processing so therefore the Police department will need additional 7 business days until July 24th in order to work towards completion of the request.

• No such records - Schedules from 2017–2018 were lawfully destroyed in accordance with state records retention guidelines.

• Schedules from 2019 up until the transition (around 2020) to our VCS system are available, and we are currently in the process of organizing them for release.

• No responsive records to the request - schedules within the VCS platform., the system does not generate a single report covering the requested timeframe.

From: William Santana <[OPRA #77499 email]>

Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2025 5:03 PM

To: Elizabeth Brandsness <[Pompton Lakes Borough request email]>

Subject: OPRA request - Work Schedule

[NOTICE: This message originated outside of Pompton Lakes Borough -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you are sure the content is safe.]

Dear Pompton Lakes 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 OPRA, I request the work schedule (including shift assignments) for all employees of the Pompton Lakes Police Department for the period of 1/1/2017 to 6/12/2025. This should include employee names, dates, shifts worked, and assignments if available.

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,

William Santana

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

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

[OPRA #77499 email]

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

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:

https://opramachine.com/help/officers

View this OPRA request & responses online:

https://opramachine.com/request/work_sch...

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."

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

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

Please use this UNIQUE email address for all replies to this request and no other:

[OPRA #77499 email]

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

https://opramachine.com/help/officers

View this OPRA request & responses online:

https://opramachine.com/request/work_sch...

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.

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

hide quoted sections

Mr. Santana,

We have made every effort to accommodate your request, however because
your request has not been narrowed we must deny your request on the
grounds the broad release of past schedules that you have requested has
the potential to expose staffing patterns, shift coverage, and officer
assignments which, if made public, could be exploited by individuals
seeking to harm officers, avoid detection during low-coverage periods, or
target specific personnel.

Elizabeth Brandsness, RMC

Municipal Clerk / Deputy Administrator

Borough of Pompton Lakes

25 Lenox Avenue

Pompton Lakes, NJ 07442

973-835-0143 ext. 238

Mr. Santana,

"The subject of your OPRA request was for Police Department work schedules for all employees including names, dates, shifts worked and assignments over a period of more than eight years. The initial response by the Custodian to your request was to determine if such records exist and, if so, in the format requested. The answer to the initial inquiry was that some of the information was undoubtably available but not easily accessible and not necessarily in the format requested. The information available was also likely to be incomplete. You were notified of the issues and responded that you wanted the information even if potentially not complete and fully accurate for the entire period requested. This raised the issue of concerns over security and potential safety issues and a suggestion that the request be narrowed to alleviate the concerns. The concern is that disclosing eight years of scheduling would allow someone to explore patterns of police staffing and search for potential weaknesses during certain days, times, or seasons. It would also potentially allow one to predict when a particular officer might be expected to be on duty or off duty in the future. The broad scope of the request raised concerns. This is what generated the response requesting a narrowing of the request and indicating specifically the security concern.

Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC v. Borough of Raritan (Unreported Law Div. 2013), which you cited, dealt with salary information for particular officers not eight years of scheduling for an entire Department. North Jersey Media Group, Inc. v. Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, 447 N.J. Super. 182 (App. Div. 2016), also cited, does address the issue of the limitations on the safety concern disclosure exception but not in the context of a broad release of a police department employee scheduling over an eight year period. The Borough did attempt to provide you with specific security concerns noting that disclosure of staffing patterns, shift coverage, and officer assignments could be exploited by individuals seeking to harm officers, avoid detection during low-coverage periods, or target specific individuals.

If your request can be limited to specific documents containing salary information or documents indicating whether or not a particular employee worked on a particular date rather than years of scheduling which would disclose patterns, we can review the legitimate safety concerns and determine if the document can be provided. Your request for Police Department work schedules during the period requested is, however, denied."

Bob

Elizabeth Brandsness, RMC
Municipal Clerk / Deputy Administrator
Borough of Pompton Lakes
25 Lenox Avenue
Pompton Lakes, NJ 07442
973-835-0143 ext. 238

-----Original Message-----
From: William Santana <[OPRA #77499 email]>
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2025 12:01 PM
To: Elizabeth Brandsness <[Pompton Lakes Borough request email]>
Subject: Internal review of OPRA request - Work Schedule

[NOTICE: This message originated outside of Pompton Lakes Borough -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you are sure the content is safe.]

Dear Elizabeth Brandsness,

In North Jersey Media Group, Inc. v. Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, 447 N.J. Super. 182 (App. Div. 2016), the court found that the agency must show a specific and articulable risk to safety—not rely on generalized or speculative concerns—when denying access under a security exemption.

In Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC v. Borough of Raritan (Law Div. 2013), the court held that historical duty rosters and overtime records must be disclosed under OPRA, and that speculative or generalized public safety concerns do not justify denial of access.

I can cite several other cases that would show the town has an obligation to provide the public with historical scheduling data. The security exemption would likely only apply to future schedules. How would you prefer that I narrow this request? Would you like me to request each year individually? I would prefer not to file a complaint with the GRC, but if these records are withheld, I may have no choice.

Yours sincerely,

William Santana

-----Original Message-----

Mr. Santana,

We have made every effort to accommodate your request, however because

your request has not been narrowed we must deny your request on the

grounds the broad release of past schedules that you have requested has

the potential to expose staffing patterns, shift coverage, and officer

assignments which, if made public, could be exploited by individuals

seeking to harm officers, avoid detection during low-coverage periods, or

target specific personnel.

Elizabeth Brandsness, RMC

Municipal Clerk / Deputy Administrator

Borough of Pompton Lakes

25 Lenox Avenue

Pompton Lakes, NJ 07442

973-835-0143 ext. 238

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

Please use this UNIQUE email address for all replies to this request and no other:

[OPRA #77499 email]

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

https://opramachine.com/help/officers

View this OPRA request & responses online:

https://opramachine.com/request/work_sch...

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.

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

hide quoted sections