Michael Dreslinski v. Holden, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20160094)

The Commonwealth ofMassachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords March 9, 2016 SPR16/094 Chief David A. Armstrong Town of Holden-Police Department 1370 Main Street Holden, MA 01520 Dear Chief Armstrong: I have received the petition ofMichael Dreslinski appealing the nomesponse of Town of Holden-Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1 O(b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Dreslinski requested "All Holden Police Department policies and procedures that govern complaints of misconduct made against Holden Police Department members, in effect on March 17, 2015." Having received no response, Mr. Dreslinski petitioned this office. 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, § 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. All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, this office was notified that a response was provided, dated February 5, 2015. Whereas this matter was opened based upon the Department's failure to provide a written response, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Mr. Dreslinski may appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). To assist in requesting and responding to requests for public records please refer to our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is 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 custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Chief David A. Armstrong SPR16/094 Page 2 March 9, 2016 request. Please contact my office directly at the telephone nu ber provided in this determination for further information. cc: Mr. Michael Dreslinski