Surprisingly, there are only three published court opinions dealing with law enforcement records under OPRA, and two of them, Serrano and Courier News, involve the same record (911 call tapes). See also O’Shea (use of force reports). But the lack of such case law is about to end, as several important issues concerning OPRA’s law enforcement and security provisions are now pending with the Appellate Division. Over the next several months, the law governing access to critical law enforcement records may be dramatically different.
The following is a list of the major law enforcement-related cases before the court:
-In re Adoption of N.J.A.C. 13:1E-3
A challenge to the validity of a regulation promulgated by the Department of Law and Public Safety, which establishes an OPRA exemption for information that may lead to revealing the duty assignment of a law enforcement officer, including the amount of overtime paid to an individual officer.
-North Jersey Media Group v. Township of Lyndhurst, et al.
The Attorney General, on behalf of the State Police, appeals a trial court ruling which granted a newspaper’s request for disclosure of the records concerning the investigation of the fatal shooting by police of a black man during a chase. The key issue before the Appellate Division is whether these records, which include incident and investigative reports, are exempt criminal investigatory records under OPRA. See this New Jersey OPRA Law Reporter post describing this case in more detail.
-Paff v. Bergen County
The issue in this appeal is whether the names of officers and complainants shown in internal affairs complaints must be disclosed.
-Paff v. Galloway Tp.
The issue in this appeal is whether the township must create and disclose a log of all emails sent by the police chief during a 2-week period. The trial judge granted the request for a log showing the sender, receiver, date, time and subject matter of each email. The Township appealed and several organizations have joined the case as amici, including the League of Municipalities, the NJ Association of Chiefs of Police and the NJ ACLU. In its brief, the Police Chiefs Association expresses its concern that the trial court ruling is inconsistent with the confidentiality needed for investigations and will have a “crippling effect” on police departments.
-Dashboard camera videos
It appears that the Appellate Division will address the question of whether videos taken by police dashboard cameras are public records. Although several trial courts have ordered disclosure of such videos, the Appellate Division has not resolved the issue. However, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office has indicated it will appeal such an order by Judge Grasso, in Ganzweig v. Lakewood Township. Because Judge Grasso awarded the plaintiff attorney fees in Ganzweig last month, the case is now final and appealable.