ProPublica: Hate Crimes Training
| Submitted | July 5, 2017 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Rohan Naik
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to Open Public Records Act ("OPRA"), I hereby request the following records:
Any and all training materials regarding hate crimes or bias crimes used to educate or train would-be police officers attending the Basic Course for Police Officers at the Essex County College Public Safety Academy. My request covers any written, visual, or digital materials used for this instruction.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 7 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Rohan Naik
From: Recordscustodian
[Description: OPRA - Open Public Records Act]<http://www.nj.gov/opra>
July 6, 2017
Rohan Naik
MuckRock
DEPT MR 39520
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>
Dear Rohan Naik:
Essex County College received your initial Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request on June 23, 2017. The official Records Custodian, Karen Bridgett, received the request on the same day, June 23, 2017. A duplicate request, attached, was received by the Records Custodian on July 5, 2017. The College was closed the week of June 26, 2017 and again on July 4, 2017. The College will be closed every Friday during the summer months of July and August 2017. As such, the seven (7) business day deadline to respond to your request is July 13, 2017. The response provided below is being provided on the 3rd business day after the custodian's receipt of said request.
There are no records held by the Essex County College Public Safety Academy responsive to your request.
If your request for access to a government record has been denied or unfilled within the seven (7) business days required by law, you have a right to challenge the decision by Essex County College to deny access. At your option, you may either institute a proceeding in the Superior Court of New Jersey or file a complaint with the Government Records Council (GRC) by completing the Denial of Access Complaint Form. You may contact the GRC by toll-free telephone at 866-850-0511, by mail at P.O. Box 819, Trenton, NJ, 08625, by e-mail at grc@dca.state.nj.us<mailto:grc@dca.state.nj.us>, or at their web site at www.state.nj.us/grc<http://www.state.nj.us/grc>. The GRC can also answer other questions about the law. All questions regarding complaints filed in Superior Court should be directed to the Court Clerk in your County.
Sincerely,
[cid:image001.png@01D0832D.E9C4F330]KAREN BRIDGETT
Associate Director
Human Resources Department
303 University Ave
Newark, NJ 07102-1719
Tel: (973) 877-3461
Fax: (973) 877-3409
recordscustodian@essex.edu
From: Rohan Naik
Hi,
I received a response that there were no records responsive to the request. However, in compliance with the instructions of Attorney General Deborah T. Poritz, and pursuant to the Criminal Justice Act of 1970, N.J.S.A. 52:17B-97 et seq as well as NJ ST 52:9DD-9, there must be training for hate/bias incidents for recruits.
Sincerely,
Rohan Naik
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 5, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 5, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 5, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 5, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Jack, Syrion A
Greetings:
My name is Syrion Jack and I am the Assistant General Counsel at Essex County College. I write in response to your request for a follow up on a previous OPRA Request. You submitted an OPRA request on July 5th. The College's Records Custodian responded to your request within the statutory response period, advising that the College was not in possession of any records responsive to your request.
Subsequent to the record custodian's response, you responded with an assertion that there is legal obligation to provide hate/bias training to police recruits. As an initial matter, this statement is not a request for documents under OPRA, and the College has no legal obligation to reply. However, as a matter of courtesy, and without addressing the accuracy of your assertion about the law, the College responds that the lack of records in the College's possession concerning training materials for hate/bias does not mean that the College's Public Safety Academy does not conduct bias/hate crime training. By way of example, the College may contract with third persons/entities to provide course instruction for a variety of courses/modules at the College and the Public Safety academy; such instructional materials would be the property of the person/entities who instructed the course and not a part of the records maintained by the College in the normal course of its business.
Should you have any further records requests, please direct same to the attention of the College's records custodian at recordscustodian@essex.edu<mailto:recordscustodian@essex.edu>.
Regards,
Syrion Jack
[cid:image003.jpg@01D32BF4.4D75B290]Syrion A. Jack, Esq.
Assistant General Counsel
303 University Avenue
Newark, NJ 07102-1719
Tel: (973) 877-3477
Fax: (973) 877-3539
Email: sjack1@essex.edu<mailto:sjack1@essex.edu>
www.essex.edu<http://www.essex.edu/>
