Libertarian uses Open Public Records Act to gain police report
By Mary Ellen Day, Special Writer
Manville Borough Council meeting has voted unanimously to allow public records watchdog John Paff to receive police records he requested under the Open Public Records Act.
Mr. Paff, a Franklin Township (Somerset) resident, is chairman of the Open Government Advocacy Project of the New Jersey Libertarian Party. He filed suit against the borough in November 2012, saying he was unable to receive certain police public records he claimed should have be available under OPRA.
Under a stipulation of settlement agreement, Mr. Paff will receive $7,030 from the borough. Most of it ($6,800) will go to pay Mr. Paff’s attorney fees with $230 to Mr. Paff for his court courts.
Mr. Paff said in the fall that he disagreed with the borough’s position that the August police reports are “criminal investigatory records” and, thereby, exempt from disclosure.
He maintained the state Open Public Records Act defines “criminal investigatory records” as those that “pertain to any criminal investigation or related civil enforcement proceeding.”
”I believe that this exemption doesn’t cover records of investigations of municipal ordinance violations,” he said.
Mr. Paff said he learned of charges brought Aug. 25 at 8:48 p.m. against two local men by Manville police officer Nickolas Franzoso for “consumption of alcohol in public.”
In a letter to the Manville News in October, Mr. Paff wrote, “The men, however, were not charged under Section 2 of Borough Ordinance No. 396. Rather, they were charged under another ordinance that prohibits consumption of alcohol in nonlicensed public places where live entertainment is offered. Regardless, it appears that Manville police have recently enforced alcohol consumption violations against others.”
Mr. Paff attended the council meeting. He said afterward that Walter Lockwood, the man accused of drinking beer, claimed he was sitting on his front porch.
”I don’t know if this is true or not, and he is claiming this, and I want to see the police reports so I can see if he was within what the police say that he was on his front porch,” Mr. Paff said. “That would indicate sort of a weird thing, and I want to know that. The second thing is more alarming that there was an article in the paper four days prior to his being arrested. He was or somebody was shot, and he said it was him.”
Mr. Paff said he has an OPRA request asking the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office for information on the identity of the victim of the shooting. He wants to determine whether it was the same resident, Mr. Lockwood.
Mr. Paff said Mr. Lockwood explained there was some type of bad blood and disagreement between Mr. Lockwood and the Police Department because Mr. Lockwood apparently did not cooperate with police in the shooting incident. Mr. Lockwood claimed the arrest was in retaliation for not cooperating.
Mr. Paff said he is trying to get the OPRA requests out, and he is finding resistance so he could find out what is happening. The resident’s court date is scheduled for Feb. 7, which Mr. Paff plans on attending.
”I don’t understand a person getting arrested, not just summoned, cuffed and taken down to the station for drinking a beer in public if you are on the front porch of your house, especially when you were a victim of a shooting four days prior,” he said.
”If those two things are true, then I think that there are some questions that have to be asked of the Borough Council, especially in light of the fact they elected not to pursue any of the charges against the head of parks and recreation when there was no doubt that he was drinking on a charity softball game. It seems to me that maybe the enforcement here just might be a bit selective.”
He refers to the May charity softball tournament at the high school in which Recreation Director Richard Armstrong allegedly was drinking beer in violation of school facilities policy. The issue first was addressed publicly at the Aug. 13 Borough Council meeting and was back and forth at meetings and in letters to the newspaper. After weeks of hubbub, Mr. Armstrong resigned from his job in October.
Mayor Angelo Corradino didn’t dispute the facts, but said the matter was investigated internally, and Mr. Armstrong was suspended a week without pay, he said.
Mr. Paff said even though he is glad he will be getting the police report, he didn’t know if he will get the police report until after the trial. He said the purpose of OPRA is to get records into the hands of people who need them.

