Internal affairs records of ex-police director who used racist, sexist slurs to remain private

Internal affairs records of ex-police director who used racist, sexist slurs to remain private
Today 9:15 AM

By Rebecca Panico | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Internal affairs reports about former Elizabeth Police Director James Cosgrove - who resigned last year after using racist and sexist slurs - will remain shielded from public view, a state Appellate Court ruled Friday.

Richard Rivera, a former West New York cop who became a whistleblower, filed a request under the state’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) for all internal affairs reports about Cosgrove and sued the prosecutor’s office after its denial. Rivera filed his OPRA request after NJ Advance Media first reported on the complaints against Cosgrove, which were later sustained by the prosecutor’s office.

CJ Griffin, an attorney who represented Rivera, said the only reason the public knows what Cosgrove did was because at least one person who lodged a complaint against him ultimately went to the press. However, the public does not know how long it went on or whether city officials or police superiors knew about it.

“The (internal affairs) records could have shed light on that and led to further accountability,” Griffin told NJ Advance Media. “We simply cannot shield information about racism and sexism from the public - Black lives are in danger because we do.”

More:
https://www.nj.com/union/2020/06/internal-affairs-records-of-ex-police-director-who-used-racist-sexist-slurs-to-remain-private.html