Katie J.M. Baker v. Lawrence, City of - Fire Department (SPR 20160310)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords May 24,2016 SPR16/310 Ms. Kathy Nett Lawrence Police Department City of Lawrence - Police Department 90 Lowell Street Lawrence, MA 01840 Dear Ms. Nett: I have received the petition of Katie J.M. Baker of BuzzFeed News appealing the nonresponse of the Lawrence Police Department (Department) to her request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1 O(b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Ms. Baker requested copies of police reports for unfounded rape cases. Despite our letter to you dated May 9, 2016 acknowledging the opening of this appeal and communication from a member of my staff, no response has been provided. 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. I find the Department has failed to respond to a request for public records. Accordingly, the Department is hereby ordered, within ten (1 0) days, to review the request and provide a written response to Ms. Baker, made in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Regulations and this order. 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. Baker 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. Ms. Baker may appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Ms. Kathy Nett SPR16/310 Page2 May 24,2016 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 request. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this deter 'nation for further information. cc: Ms. Katie J.M. Baker