CJ Griffin Quoted in Article Regarding the Lack of Transparency in the Paterson Police Department
CJ Griffin, Director of the Justice Gary S. Stein Public Interest Center at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden, was quoted in Paterson Times article, “Paterson Police Released False Information about Officer Discipline, says Lawsuit.” The article reports about a recent Open Public Records Act lawsuit that Griffin filed on behalf of a client seeking internal affairs statistical reports from the City of Paterson.
“These disclosures are required to be made every year and they are very important. They allow residents to see what type of serious misconduct occurred within the local police department and how those officers were punished. It is the only sliver of transparency in the entire police disciplinary process and it is beyond disappointing that Paterson responded the way it did to this OPRA request,” said C.J. Griffin, attorney representing Rivera in the lawsuit, on Friday. “Despite the fact that the Attorney General’s policy requires these annual disclosures, we’re seeing so many agencies who are not doing it. The AG really needs to act and start holding agencies accountable for that.”
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