Requestors often argue that OPRA requires the release of police internal affairs records, such as the names of people who file police misconduct complaints and the names of the officers who were the targets of the complaints. Both the Appellate Division and the GRC have rejected efforts to compel disclosing this information under OPRA, but because these opinions were not precedential, the issue remained unsettled.

That changed today: the Appellate Division issued a published opinion which holds that the names of the complainants, and the officers who were the subjects of these complaints, must be kept confidential.

In FOP v. City of Newark, the court upheld the validity of a Newark ordinance creating a civilian board empowered to investigate citizens’ complaints of police misconduct. In addition, the court determined that the ordinance had two invalid aspects, one of which is pertinent here–it permitted public disclosure of the identities of the complainants and the police officers.

The court said that allowing such disclosure is improper, as it is directly contrary to the requirement of the Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Guidelines that this information must remain confidential. And the court also specifically noted that the ordinance’s disclosure requirement did not comply with OPRA, which provides for the confidentiality of personnel records.

In addition to settling the question of the confidentiality of internal affairs information, this opinion should put to rest the argument made by some requestors, recently discussed here, that OPRA’s personnel exemption should not be applied to law enforcement officers.