Stern, Nicole v. Stoneham, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20150665)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords October 15, 2015 SPRlS/665 Chief James Mcintyre Town of Stoneham- Police Department 4 7 Central Street Stoneham MA, 02180-2044 Dear Chief Mcintyre: I have received the petition ofNicole Sterns appealing the response of the Town of Stoneham Police Department (Department) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lO(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Ms. Sterns requested copy of incident report# 1508152. The Department denied her request in its entirety stating the records contain personal medical information and therefore are exempt pursuant to Exemption (c), the privacy exemption of the Public Records Law. In her petition Ms. Stern explained that she is seeking the report as the employer of the person involved in the incident. Ms. Stern explained that she is not interested in receiving any medical information. Please note that the status of Ms. Stern as the employer of the person involved in the incident in question does not afford any greater right of access to the requested information than other persons in the general public. The Public Records Law does not distinguish between requesters. Access to a record requested pursuant to the Public Records Law rests on the content of the record and not the circumstances of the requester. See Bougas v. Chief of Police of Lexington, 371 Mass. 59, 64 (1976). The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c); 950 C.M.R. 32.08(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma.us/pre

Chief James Mcintyre SPR15/665 October 15, 2015 Page Two It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 10 ( c); see also District Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). 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). The response by the Department did not contain the specificity required in a denial of access to public records. The Department is advised that to comply with the Public Records Law and its Access 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. The Department's response did not explain why the exempt personal medical information cannot be redacted and any remaining non-exempt material be provided. Accordingly, the Department is hereby ordered, within ten (1 0) days of this order, to provide Ms. Stem with the requested records. If the Department maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (1 0) days provide to Ms. Stem a written explanation, with specificity, how a particular exemption applies to each record. To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. If there are any fees associated with this response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2) (where cost of complying with a request for public records is expected to exceed ten dollars ($10.00), custodian of records shall provide written good faith estimate). Once the fees are paid, you must provide the responsive records. Supervisor of Records cc: Ms. Nicole Stem