NJ to Keep Trooper Information Private

New Jersey officials are seeking to shield virtually all records on individual State Police troopers, a proposal critics claim would block information the public deserves to know. The measure was authorized by former Attorney General John Farmer Jr. before he left office last month. It was published in Tuesday's edition of the New Jersey Register, starting a public comment period that ends on April 20. The measure would primarily shield data that State Police officials must compile under a December 1999 consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice. That includes videotapes of all highway stops as well as computerized information used to determine promotions, assignments, and the referral of troopers to counseling.

State officials said the new rule is needed to protect the privacy of state troopers and their families while allowing the department to take a hard look at itself as it works to eradicate racial profiling.

"If we had a blanket rule that they were public, we would lose the essential support of troopers that we need," Farmer told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Wednesday's editions.

Critics, including representatives of the state's newspaper publishers and New Jersey Citizen Action, said the proposal goes too far.

"(These rules) will have the unfortunate consequence of shutting off from public access all kinds of relevant information about State Police officers that the public can and should know," said Thomas Cafferty, counsel to the New Jersey Press Association.

Attorney General David Samson will ultimately determine whether to implement the measure. When asked whether Samson supports the plan, spokesman Roger Shatzkin would only say "it's a proposal and we encourage people to comment."

Cafferty said that under a broad reading of the proposal, the state could have kept secret its $12.9 million settlement of a lawsuit against former Troopers John Hogan and James Kenna, who wounded three minority men in an April 1998 shooting on the New Jersey Turnpike.

Farmer said the proposal was not intended to change the long-standing rule that state settlements are public.

The Rev. Reginald Jackson, executive director of the Black Ministers Council and a tireless crusader against racial profiling, called the proposal "an affront to the citizens of this state, especially minority citizens," adding that the mere fact that it was proposed is "alarming."

Article continues below

---

advertisement

---

Author: 6 ABC-AP