NPD settlement agreements

Shawn Musgrave filed this request with the City Clerk of Newark, NJ.
Tracking #

PD-17-0393, OPRA LAW-17-0012

Status
Completed

Communications

From: Shawn Musgrave

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to Open Public Records Act ("OPRA"), I hereby request the following records:

A listing, spreadsheet, or other document indicating all settlement agreements reached between 2000 to the present date for litigation in which police officers and/or the Newark Police Department was named as a defendant, or where the actions of a NPD officer was alleged to be the basis for liability against the city or NPD.

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,

Shawn Musgrave

From: Golinski, Ana

CITY
OF

NEWARK

Ana Golinski, Manager, OPRA Division
Office of the City Clerk
920 Broad Street * Room 415A Newark, NJ 07102
Office: 973-424-4116
Fax: 973-733-4893
Golinskia@ci.newark.nj.us<mailto:Golinskia@ci.newark.nj.us>

[cid:image003.jpg@01D1A52B.D23FFA40]

From: Shawn Musgrave

Hello -

Thank you for reaching out. I am absolutely fine with this time extension.

Best,
Shawn Musgrave

From: Golinski, Ana

Good morning,

Please be advised that your request was forwarded to the Law Deparment and the Newark Police Department for search of relevant records. The Police Department has indicated that all settlements are handled by the Law Department and the files reside there as well. The Law Department responded on July 25, 2017 and a copy of their response was emailed to you on the same day. Law is asking for additional time in order to search for relevant records until September 25th, 2017. Attached is a copy of our former submission to you.

Your patience as we process your request is greatly appreciated.

Respectfully,

CITY
OF

NEWARK

Ana Golinski, Manager, OPRA Division
Office of the City Clerk
920 Broad Street · Room 415A Newark, NJ 07102
Office: 973-424-4116
Fax: 973-733-4893
Golinskia@ci.newark.nj.us<mailto:Golinskia@ci.newark.nj.us>

[cid:image003.jpg@01D1A52B.D23FFA40]

From: Golinski, Ana

Good morning,

Please be advised that your request was forwarded to the Law Deparment and the Newark Police Department for search of relevant records. The Police Department has indicated that all settlements are handled by the Law Department and the files reside there as well. The Law Department responded on July 25, 2017 and a copy of their response was emailed to you on the same day. Law is asking for additional time in order to search for relevant records until September 25th, 2017. Attached is a copy of our former submission to you.

Your patience as we process your request is greatly appreciated.

Respectfully,

CITY
OF

NEWARK

Ana Golinski, Manager, OPRA Division
Office of the City Clerk
920 Broad Street · Room 415A Newark, NJ 07102
Office: 973-424-4116
Fax: 973-733-4893
Golinskia@ci.newark.nj.us<mailto:Golinskia@ci.newark.nj.us>

[cid:image003.jpg@01D1A52B.D23FFA40]

From: Shawn Musgrave

Ms. Golinksi -

Thank you for your reply. I would be happy with the suggested accommodation of providing all settlement agreements during the requested time period. I can review them myself to identify which, if any, pertain to the police.

Is there any such spreadsheet, listing, etc., for another time period that indexes settlement agreements? It is my experience from other cities that such listings are often maintained to track relevant departments related to the agreement, even if one particular department or employee is not a named defendant.

Best,
Shawn Musgrave

From: Golinski, Ana

Hi Shawn,

I will forward your comments to the Law Department.

Thank you.

CITY
OF

NEWARK

Ana Golinski, Manager, OPRA Division
Office of the City Clerk
920 Broad Street * Room 415A Newark, NJ 07102
Office: 973-424-4116
Fax: 973-733-4893
Golinskia@ci.newark.nj.us<mailto:Golinskia@ci.newark.nj.us>

[cid:image003.jpg@01D1A52B.D23FFA40]

From: City Clerk

A no responsive documents response.

From: Shawn Musgrave

Hello -

I have received the Newark Police Department's response as to OPRA request PD-17-0393, in which the NPD's Legal Affairs Unit indicates it has no responsive documents pertaining to any settlement agreements with plaintiffs alleging misconduct by NPD officers.

I believe this OPRA request, which was originally submitted to the City Clerk, was also sent to the City's Law Department, which typically represents city agencies in civil litigation. The Law Department assigned the request tracking number LAW-17-0012.

Please confirm whether there will be a separate response on this OPRA request from the Law Department in addition to the response I have received from NPD.

Best,
Shawn Musgrave

From: Golinski, Ana

Please be advised that the Corporation Counsel, Law Department, has informed OPRA that additional time through October 20, 2017 is needed in order to gather and sort through 17 years worth of settlement agreements. The anticipated date for a response and/or status on this request is October 31, 2017.

CITY
OF

NEWARK[cid:image003.jpg@01D1A52B.D23FFA40]

Ana Golinski, Manager, OPRA Division
Office of the City Clerk
920 Broad Street * Room 415A Newark, NJ 07102
Office: 973-424-4116
Fax: 973-733-4893
Golinskia@ci.newark.nj.us<mailto:Golinskia@ci.newark.nj.us>

From: City Clerk

Please be advised that the law department has indicated that additional time is needed through November 17, 2017. Please see attached.

From:

Good Morning,

My name is Samora Noguera and I am the Law Department representative handling this request. Could you please send me a phone number? The Department is gathering this information as we speak.

From: Shawn Musgrave

Hi Mr. Noguera -

Thanks for giving me a call just now. As we discussed, I agree to the following:

-Production of ALL settlement agreements, such that your office doesn't need to sift through in search of agreements solely related to the police department.
-Rolling production.
-An extension of approximately 2 weeks for this OPRA request.

I want to emphasize again my appreciation for the work you and your colleagues in the clerk's office and Law Department have done on this and all of my OPRA requests. Your professionalism, timeliness, courtesy and thoroughness have been immensely helpful.

Best,
Shawn

From:

Office of the City Clerk
920 Broad St.
City Hall, Room, 306
Newark, New Jersey 07102

December 1, 2017

This is a follow up to request number PD-17-0393, OPRA LAW-17-0012:

Hi Mr. Noguera -

Thanks for giving me a call just now. As we discussed, I agree to the following:

-Production of ALL settlement agreements, such that your office doesn't need to sift through in search of agreements solely related to the police department.
-Rolling production.
-An extension of approximately 2 weeks for this OPRA request.

I want to emphasize again my appreciation for the work you and your colleagues in the clerk's office and Law Department have done on this and all of my OPRA requests. Your professionalism, timeliness, courtesy and thoroughness have been immensely helpful.

Best,
Shawn

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com
Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/accounts/agency_login/corporation-counsel-8905/npd-settlement-agreements-39648/?email=nogueras%40newark.onmicrosoft.com&uuid-login=7bf819ed-7cf8-4af8-9648-a74fc3f82f0f#agency-reply
Is this email coming to the wrong contact? Something else wrong? Use the above link to let us know.

For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 39648
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share, and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed (i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.

---

On Nov. 30, 2017:
Good Morning,

My name is Samora Noguera and I am the Law Department representative handling this request. Could you please send me a phone number? The Department is gathering this information as we speak.

---

On Oct. 23, 2017:
Please be advised that the law department has indicated that additional time is needed through November 17, 2017. Please see attached.

---

On Oct. 16, 2017:
Please be advised that the Corporation Counsel, Law Department, has informed OPRA that additional time through October 20, 2017 is needed in order to gather and sort through 17 years worth of settlement agreements. The anticipated date for a response and/or status on this request is October 31, 2017.

CITY
OF

NEWARK[cid:image003.jpg@01D1A52B.D23FFA40]

Ana Golinski, Manager, OPRA Division
Office of the City Clerk
920 Broad Street * Room 415A Newark, NJ 07102
Office: 973-424-4116
Fax: 973-733-4893
Golinskia@ci.newark.nj.us<mailto:Golinskia@ci.newark.nj.us>
---

On Sept. 7, 2017:
Hello -

I have received the Newark Police Department's response as to OPRA request PD-17-0393, in which the NPD's Legal Affairs Unit indicates it has no responsive documents pertaining to any settlement agreements with plaintiffs alleging misconduct by NPD officers.

I believe this OPRA request, which was originally submitted to the City Clerk, was also sent to the City's Law Department, which typically represents city agencies in civil litigation. The Law Department assigned the request tracking number LAW-17-0012.

Please confirm whether there will be a separate response on this OPRA request from the Law Department in addition to the response I have received from NPD.

Best,
Shawn Musgrave
---

On Aug. 31, 2017:
A no responsive documents response.
---

On July 10, 2017:
To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to Open Public Records Act ("OPRA"), I hereby request the following records:

A listing, spreadsheet, or other document indicating all settlement agreements reached between 2000 to the present date for litigation in which police officers and/or the Newark Police Department was named as a defendant, or where the actions of a NPD officer was alleged to be the basis for liability against the city or NPD.

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,

Shawn Musgrave

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com
Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/accounts/agency_login/corporation-counsel-8905/npd-settlement-agreements-39648/?email=nogueras%40newark.onmicrosoft.com&uuid-login=7bf819ed-7cf8-4af8-9648-a74fc3f82f0f#agency-reply
Is this email coming to the wrong contact? Something else wrong? Use the above link to let us know.

For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 39648
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share, and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed (i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.

From: City Clerk

Thanks again for your patience.

From: City Clerk

A fix is required to perfect the request.

From: Shawn Musgrave

Hi Samora -

Thanks for following up on this. I've received the final response on OPRA request LAW-17-12, and consider it completed.

Best,
Shawn Musgrave

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