TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey appeals court panel has ruled that police use-of-force reports are public records.

The opinion by a three-judge Appellate Division panel upholds a 2008 Superior Court ruling that said West Milford must turn over use-of-force reports to resident Martin O'Shea, an open-records activist.

Police officers in New Jersey are required to file a report whenever they use force, whether physical or involving a weapon.

The town claimed that the records should be exempt from New Jersey's Open Public Records Act as "criminal investigatory records."

But lawyers for O'Shea, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and North Jersey Media Group argued that access to the reports could help the public evaluate whether police use of force was justified.

The case is O'Shea v. Township of West Milford.