The New Jersey Supreme Court recently clarified when police internal affairs (IA) reports must be disclosed to the public under both the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) and the common law right of access. The court ultimately concluded that while OPRA does not permit access to internal affairs reports, records can and should be disclosed under the common law right of access — subject to appropriate redactions — when interests that favor disclosure outweigh concerns for confidentiality.
The decision in Rivera v. Union County Prosecutor’s Office is very important for all municipalities because it suggests that not only will law enforcement agencies be forced to be more transparent, but they might also have to rethink the way they discipline employees given the heightened potential for public access and criticism…
The full version of this article was originally posted on Scarinci Hollenbeck’s website. View the full article here: https://scarincihollenbeck.com/client-alert/nj-supreme-court-decision-on-disclosure-of-ia-records
Print version of the full article can be found here: https://res.cloudinary.com/scarinci-hollenbeck/images/v1647541189/wp.scarincihollenbeck/03-17-2022-Dettmer-and-Teijido-Client-Alert/03-17-2022-Dettmer-and-Teijido-Client-Alert.pdf?_i=AA