Significant Appellate Division Ruling: Internal Affairs Records Are Exempt From Disclosure

Today the Appellate Division held that records of internal affairs investigations of  law enforcement officers are exempt from disclosure under OPRA. Paff v. Bergen County.

The court specifically upheld the denial of a request for the names of complainants and the employees who were the targets of the complaints, on the ground that this information must be kept confidential under the Attorney General’s Internal Affairs Guidelines.

As discussed here, the GRC has previously said, correctly in my view, that internal affairs investigation and complaint records are also exempt because they are personnel records. The Appellate Division did not address this basis for confidentiality in the opinion issued today.

The Paff v. Bergen opinion is extremely significant. Although requestors frequently seek internal affairs records, this is the first appellate case to deal with the issue. Given the importance of this ruling, it’s surprising that the court did not make it a published, precedential opinion.

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