John Anderson v. Holyoke, City of - Police Department (SPR 20160309)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams May 20,2016 Supervisor ofR ecords SPR16/309 James M. Neiswanger Chief of Police Holyoke Police Department 13 8 Appleton Street Holyoke, MA 01 040 Dear ChiefNeiswanger: I have received the petition of John Anderson appealing the response of the Holyoke Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Anderson requested records regarding a specific incident. The Department provided a responsive record. Upon the belief that other responsive records exist Mr. Anderson made a second request to the Department. By letter dated April21, 2016, Sergeant James Rivard responded to this request, informing Mr. Anderson that no other responsive records exist. The duty of a custodian of records to comply with requests for information extends only to records that exist and are in the custodian's custody. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26) (defining "public records" as those non-exempt materials made or received by a public employee); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.03 (defining "custodian" as the public employee with routine access to or control of public records). Whereas the Department has provided copies of all existing responsive records I will consider this administrative appeal closed. 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 r uest. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this deter inatio for further information. cc: Mr. John Anderson OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre