NEW BRUNSWICK - A Middlesex County judge has ruled that use-of-force reports, police dash camera or body camera footage and the names of the police officers involved in the 2016 shooting death of Diahlo Grant must be released as part of an Open Public Records Act request.
The OPRA request was submitted in 2016 by Richard Rivera, a police practices expert and civil rights advocate who is chair of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey. The request was denied and instead Rivera received the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office's press release issued after the shooting.
He regularly request similar information on all police shootings throughout the state so he can analyze it and look for patterns of behavior among police, said his attorney C.J. Griffin.
Middlesex County Assignment Judge Travis Francis handed down the ruling Friday.
Rivera, a former police officer in West New York, Hudson County, submitted an OPRA request on July 7, 2016 to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office seeking records related to the Franklin Township police shooting death of Diahlo Grant on April 9, 2016 in New Brunswick, according to the decision.
Prosecutor clears officer in fatal shooting
Rivera sought use-of-force reports, the names of the officers involved in the shooting and police dash cam or body camera recorded footage of the incident, and on July 15, the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office denied access to the use-of-force reports and dash cam video, citing OPRA exemptions for "criminal investigatory records" and "ongoing investigation," the decision stated.
Rivera instead received an April 9, 2016 Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office news release about the police shooting that did not reveal the officers' names, saying they were exempt for similar reasons.
"We're grateful that the judge ruled that the public needs access to these records," said Rivera. "In all of these situations where police use force, there needs to be transparency. The fact of the matter is New Jersey police departments aren't analyzing use-of-force incidents and we as a public need to do so.
"The county prosecutor's offices do a poor job in overseeing local police use-of-force investigations. They really only scratch the surface. The Attorney General's Office needs to require local police departments to analyze use-of-force incidents."
Rivera said that in the Grant shooting there is no need for the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office to withhold the names of the police officers involved.
"They're public servants and serve us well," he said. "But we should be able to know which ones are using force, especially deadly force."
James O'Neill, spokesman for the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, declined comment in an email.
In his decision, Francis said the defendants have not met their burden of proving that all information was provided or that the dash cam footage and use-of-force reports are exempt as criminal investigatory records. Francis also ruled that the news release sent to Rivera was "not responsive to plaintiff's request."
Griffin said the issue of releasing use-of-force is now before the state Supreme Court in a case involving North Jersey Jersey Media Group vs. the Township of Lyndhurst involving a police shooting. Oral arguments were heard in November, she said.
In his ruling, Francis said that "unsupported speculative claims of harm are insufficient to deny access to a record where the public agency fails to produce specific reliable evidence to meet a statutorial recognized basis for confidentiality, required under OPRA."
Francis added that the use-of-force reports and dash cam reports are not the type of records that legislators intended to hide from the public.
"Thus, the court finds that the requested records were improperly withheld," the ruling states.
Grant, 27, was killed on April 9 when he encountered two uniformed Franklin Township police officers at Somerset and Home streets in Franklin Township in Somerset County and, after a brief chase into nearby New Brunswick in Middlesex County, exchanged gunfire at 1:30 a.m., according to the Middlesex County prosecutor's report.
Grant fired one shot at the officers and died after one of the officers fired six shots at him, striking him multiple times, it was stated in the report.
A black revolver with a brown grip was recovered next to Grant's body and the weapon was subsequently identified as the same one involved in the shooting of a man on Feb. 15, according to the report.
Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DHutch_SL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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