Cohn, Jonathan v. Boston, City of - Police Department (SPR 20150879)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor of& cords January 4, 2016 SPRlS/879 Ms. Amy Ambarik, Esq. Chief Legal Counsel Boston Police Department One Schroeder Plaza Boston, MA 02120 Dear Attorney Ambarik: I have received the petition of Jonathan Cohn appealing the nomesponse of the Boston Police Department (Department) and the Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC) to his requests for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Cohn made two (2) requests, the first on July 31 and the second on August 26, 2015 requesting copies of five (5) categories of records related to "Boston 2024" or "2024 Olympics" and an additional request for records related to "Intelligence reports" for nine (9) specifically identified individuals. Response to July 31 request In an October 1, 2015 response to the July 31 request the Department's Media Relations Office provided Mr. Cohn with two (2) emails, further stating the Department "has no other records responsive to this request." On that same date Mr. Cohn sent an email requesting clarification on this response, as he believed the records provided were not within the requested date range. Further, Mr. Cohn expressed his concern that he knew of at least one responsive record that existed but was not provided in the City's response. To date Mr. Cohn has received no substantive response to this October 1 query. Response to August 26 request To date, other than an acknowledgment the Department has not responded to the August 26 request, despite follow up correspondence from Mr. Cohn sent in September, October and November 2015. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Ms. Amy Ambarik, Esq. SPR15/879 Page 2 January 4, 2016 Failure to timely respond to a request for public records Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten (1 0) days of the request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(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 Department was provided with not only Mr. Cohn's requests and follow up correspondence, but also an acknowledgment letter from this office dated December 8, 2015 providing an appeal number and notice that a public records appeal had been opened by this office. Further, a member of my legal staff made telephone calls to your office on December 17 and 21, 2015 to discuss this appeal. To date the Department has not spoken with my staff, nor to the best of my knowledge has any further response been provided to Mr. Cohn. Order I find the Department has failed to satisfy its burden to respond to a request for public records. Accordingly, the Department is hereby ordered, within ten (10) days ofthis order, to provide Mr. Cohn with a substantive written response to his July 31 and August 26 requests, prepared in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. If the Department maintains that any portion of any responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (1 0) days provide to Mr. Cohn 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. To assist the Department in responding to requests for public records I have enclosed a copy of our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is also available on the Internet, free of charge, at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf. Attorneys on my staff are available during regular business hours to answer general questions regarding the Public Records Law. In addition, members of my staff will visit a records

Ms. Amy Ambarik, Esq. SPR15/879 Page 3 January 4, 2016 custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public R cords Law upon request. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number below r further information. cc: Mr. Jonathan Cohn