Report: Press must get N.J. state police info from headquarters

By The Associated Press

08.12.02

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VINELAND, N.J. — The New Jersey State Police are requiring the news media to contact state police headquarters in Ewing for all inquiries into crimes instead of getting reports from troopers in local barracks, according to a published report.

"No information is to be released except through this office under the auspices of (N.J. State Police Superintendent Joseph Santiago)," state police spokesman Sgt. Gerald Lewis told The Daily Journal in Vineland.

The newspaper reported Aug. 9 that the restriction had stopped the dissemination of local crime information, including the release of weekly reports that documented incidents handled by local barracks. It also said media coordinator positions at the Bridgeton, Buena Vista Township, Bivalve and Port Norris barracks were eliminated.

Trooper Steve Jones, a spokesman for the state police, told the Associated Press that a memo was sent throughout the agency about a month ago requiring all press calls to be directed through headquarters.

But Jones said the requirement was generally a policy before and the memo simply reaffirmed it.

In some cases, such as traffic accidents, he said local barracks may still be able to comment, but it must be cleared through headquarters.

As for the weekly crime logs and media coordinators, Jones said both have been eliminated because of a staffing shortage.

Gov. James E. McGreevey signed the Open Public Records Act last month, but his administration then angered news organizations by making more than 400 categories of government records exempt from the new law.

In response to those concerns, state Attorney General David Samson sent a memo to county and municipal police departments.

"Nothing in the order was intended to restrict immediate release of information to the public," the memo said.

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