CJ Griffin Quoted in New Jersey Monitor Article Regarding the Need for More Police Transparency
CJ Griffin, Director of the Justice Gary S. Stein Public Interest Center at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden, was quoted in New Jersey Monitor article, “Case of Jersey City cop highlights lack of police transparency.” The article discusses how the state-mandated disclosure in the case of a Jersey City police officer that he “negligently discharged a firearm while off duty and on his personal property” did not provide sufficient details of the circumstances and is an example of law enforcement officers’ misbehavior going unnoticed and unchecked because state law protects the secrecy of police discipline records.
If the public doesn’t know about officers’ wrongdoing, they can’t ensure they’re being held accountable for their actions and the public can’t protect themselves, said C.J. Griffin, a Hackensack public interest attorney who advocates for public records access.
“I live in Jersey City, so it’s insanely alarming to me that there’s a police officer walking the streets with a gun and he’s a person who has the temperament to get in a fight, pull a gun and shoot it,” Griffin said. “He’s in a job that requires him to interact with hostile people, maybe even on a daily basis, and yet he has that short of a fuse.”
The article also discusses two cases that Griffin has pending before the New Jersey Supreme Court regarding police transparency, one of which is being argued on September 14, 2021.
Griffin hopes the courts will act where the Legislature has not.
To view the full article, click here
The article also appeared in the Jersey City times here