Personnel and Disciplinary Record, Police Officer Gerald Benderoth

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:

The complete personnel record of the late Police Officer Gerard Benderoth, and all internal disciplinary records that identify Benderoth as a subject. For specificity and to rule out duplicates, the subject Benderoth birthdate was February 1, 1969. Benderoth was noted as a member of the town police force at the time of his death in 2017.

Please note, these records are no longer exempted from disclosure under Civil Rights Law 50-A (which has been repealed). They fall under the explicit purview of the Freedom of Information Law. Records that may be released include "the complaints, allegations, and charges against an employee; the name of the employee complained of or charged; the transcript of any disciplinary trial or hearing, including any exhibits introduced at such trial or hearing; the disposition of any disciplinary proceeding; and the final written opinion or memorandum supporting the disposition and discipline imposed including the agency's complete factual findings and its analysis of the conduct and appropriate discipline of the covered employee." Please see Chapter 96 of the 2020 Laws of New York State for reference.

Please note that Benderoth is deceased (see included 2017 Obituary). Under FOIL, the privacy interest to withholding records is now greatly diminished. The public interest in release is overwhelming, as Mr. Benderoth was a known subject of an FBI investigation into a quadruple homicide.

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 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

T. McElwee

Ms. Raquel Ventura, Town Clerk:

I received your emailed reply to my fax. The verbatim text of my FOIL Request is below.

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:

The complete personnel record of the late Police Officer Gerard Benderoth, and all internal disciplinary records that identify Benderoth as a subject. For specificity and to rule out duplicates, the subject Benderoth birthdate was February 1, 1969. Benderoth was noted as a member of the town police force at the time of his death in 2017.

Please note, these records are no longer exempted from disclosure under Civil Rights Law 50-A (which has been repealed). They fall under the explicit purview of the Freedom of Information Law. Records that may be released include "the complaints, allegations, and charges against an employee; the name of the employee complained of or charged; the transcript of any disciplinary trial or hearing, including any exhibits introduced at such trial or hearing; the disposition of any disciplinary proceeding; and the final written opinion or memorandum supporting the disposition and discipline imposed including the agency's complete factual findings and its analysis of the conduct and appropriate discipline of the covered employee." Please see Chapter 96 of the 2020 Laws of New York State for reference.

Please note that Benderoth is deceased (see included 2017 Obituary). Under FOIL, the privacy interest to withholding records is now greatly diminished. The public interest in release is overwhelming, as Mr. Benderoth was a known subject of an FBI investigation into a quadruple homicide.

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 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

T. McElwee

To whom it may concern:

I am in receipt of an email response to my FOIL request (subj: late officer Gerard Benderoth). This was sent by Town Clerk Raquel Ventura and cc'd to Jaclyn G. Goldberg (who, upon information and belief, is counsel to the Town).

It is my intent to send a check for $46.25 for the quoted number of pages (185); however I would like to first request a clarification that the quoted number of pages are the ones to be produced and are does not include pages to be withheld.

I would also ask to whom I should make a check payable. I believe, if I am not mistaken, that I should make it out to the following:

Town Clerk, Town of Haverstraw
Suite 240,
1 Rosman Road
Garnerville, N Y 10923

If I am incorrect, please let me know as soon as possible.

Thank you,
T. McElwee

To Whom It May Concern:

Please find enclosed a check for $46.25 to satisfy the fee associated with the attached public records request.

Thank you.

Ms. Ventura, et al.:

This is a follow-up regarding my FOIL request for the disciplinary and personnel records of Gerard Benderoth.

To recap: on 11/13/2020, I received pagecount and price for the production of the requested records ($46.25 for 185 pages). Thereafter, on 11/24/2020, I authorized payment (through MuckRock) and had a check sent to the Town Clerk's office for the stated amount.

I ask that the Town Clerk's Office confirm that the check has been received. If it has, then I wish to ask for clarification on how the documents have been or will be produced (by US Postal Service, by email, or some other means etc.) and the current status of the production.

Thank you,
T. McElwee