Police Transparency Advocates Score Legal Victory in New Jersey

Dashboard-camera videos of incidents in which police officers use fatal force must be made available to the public in most circumstances, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a unanimous decision that advocates for open government and transparency are calling a historic victory.

Law enforcement agencies must also release the names of the officers involved in fatal shootings, another key question raised in a lawsuit filed in 2014 by North Jersey Media Group, a division of Gannett that publishes The Record.

“The court says definitively that the balance when there is a shooting will tilt in the favor of disclosure,” said Samuel Samaro, an attorney for North Jersey Media Group. “I think it’s gigantic. It is to me the most Open Records Act-affirming decision from our Supreme Court ever.”