CJ Griffin Quoted in Article on Making NJ Police Internal Affairs Records Accessible to the Public
CJ Griffin, Director of the Justice Gary S. Stein Public Interest Center at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden, was quoted in an article on northjersey.com, “Grewal says NJ police internal affairs records should be more accessible to public.” The article discusses New Jersey Attorney General Grewal rethinking the need to share police internal affairs records and make them more accessible to the public.
The state's top cop pointed to states that make public not only disciplinary findings, but also the underlying documents, such as interview notes that led to the conclusions — as states including Florida, Arizona, Georgia and most recently New York. Thirty states give the public at least partial access to discipline records, according to an updated analysis by attorney CJ Griffin of a 2015 WNYC report.
"I was happy to hear the attorney general admit today that New Jersey is at the 'back of the pack' in terms of police transparency and also say that we should instead be a national leader on this issue," said Griffin, who fights to make law enforcement records public. "I remain very cautious, but hopeful that the administration’s actions will match their words."
For New Jersey to become that leader, Griffin said, the Legislature should pass a bill sponsored by Sen. Loretta Weinberg and Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly (S-2656/A-4283) that gives the public broad access to internal affairs files.
Please click here for an online version of the article.