Police must allow access to Use of Force Reports

In a precedent-setting decision that will be binding on police departments throughout the state, the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court this week affirmed the public’s right of access to police Use of Force Reports. Citing the Open Public Records Act and the common law right of access to public records, Martin O’Shea, on March 20, 2008, requested from the Township of West Milford a copy of its police Use of Force Reports for 2006, 2007 and 2008. (Attorney General guidelines require a police officer to prepare a Use of Force Report whenever the police officer uses force.) On March 31, 2008, the township denied O’Shea access on the grounds that Use of Force Reports are exempt from OPRA access as “criminal investigatory records.” O’Shea sued the township to obtain the requested records (except for the names of any subjects of force who were not arrested). On Aug. 8, 2008 Judge Thomas F. Brogan heard oral argument and issued a written order that the “criminal investigatory record” exemption did not apply to Use of Force Reports and that the township had violated OPRA by refusing to provide O’Shea with access to the requested records. The Township of West Milford appealed on Oct. 31, 2008, and a panel of three Appellate Division judges this week released a unanimous 22-page decision that gave its rationale for rejecting West Milford’s appeal. Armed with the appellate division decision, O’Shea said, ”West Milford should have released the use of force reports without delay. Police officers play a unique role in our society because we trust them to carry guns. With that power comes a need for public oversight. Citizens need to see the Use of Force Reports for the same reason that law enforcement officials need to see them: to determine whether the police are using force lawfully.”