Cappetta, Esq., Daniel v. Framingham, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20140198)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords May 8, 2014 SPR14/198 Lt. Frank Divittorio Town of Framingham-Police Department 1 William Welch Way Framingham, MA 01702 Dear Lt. Divittorio: I have received the petition of Attorney Daniel Cappetta appealing the non-response of the City of Framingham-Police Department (Department) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Attorney Cappetta requested copies of records regarding a specifically identified member of the Depmiment. As of the date of this Determination, Attorney Cappetta has not received a response from the Department. In an effort to assist the Department in meeting its burden under the Public Records Law my office has placed several telephone calls to your office regarding this issue. As of the date of this Determination the Department has not responded to these efforts. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten (10) days of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b); 950 C.M.R. 32.05. The response may be an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. The Department is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. The ten-day provision is a maximum, rather than a minimum, time frame for complying with a public records request. The Public Records Law states that "the burden shall be upon the custodian to prove with specificity the exemption which applies." G. L. c. 66, § 10(c) (emphasis added). See also Globe Newspaper Co. v. Police Comm'r, 419 Mass. 852, 857 (1995); see also District Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995). Accordingly, the Department is advised that to comply with the Public Records Law and Regulations it must provide specificity with respect to any denial of access to public records. This requires a records custodian to not only cite an exemption, but to specifically explain the applicability of the exemption to the requested records. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832. Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Lt. Frank Divittorio SPR14/198 Page Two May 8, 2014 Accordingly, the Department is hereby ordered, within ten days of this order, to provide Attorney Cappetta with the requested records, or provide to this office, with specificity, how a particular exemption applies to each record. If the Department is planning to charge for the cost of complying with this public records request, Attorney Cappetta must be provided with a detailed written, good faith estimate on each particular request. Once the Department receives the estimate funds, the records must be provided. Failure to comply with this administrative order may result in the filing of a complaint for enforcement in the Superior Court by Attorney Cappetta. illiams Supervisor of Records cc: Daniel Cappetta, Esq.