Michael Dreslinski v. Holden, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20160322)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords May 25,2016 SPR16/322 Chief David A. Armstrong Town of Holden Police Department 1370 Main Street Holden, MA 01520 Dear Chief Armstrong: I have received the petition of Michael Dreslinski appealing the response of the Town of Holden Police Department (Department) to an October 15, 2015 request for clarification regarding the Department's response to a prior request. G. L. c. 66 § lO(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Dreslinski sought clarification from the Department as to whether all responsive records were provided and whether any were redacted or withheld by the Department. Having received no response Mr. Dreslinski petitioned this office. I find the Department has failed to respond to a request for public records. Accordingly, the Department is hereby ordered, within ten (10) days of this order, to review Mr. Dreslinski's October 15 correspondence and provide a written response, prepared in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. If the Department maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (1 0) days provide to Mr. Dreslinski 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, § 1O (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 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 OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Chief David A. Armstrong SPR16/322 Page2 May 25,2016 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 determinatio for further information. cc: Mr. Michael Dreslinski