Susan Boschetto v. Shirley, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20160773)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords October 13, 2016 SPR16/773 Ms. Pamela Callahan Public Safety Admin. Assistant Records Clerk Town of Shirley 11 KeadyWay Shirley, MA 01464 Dear Ms. Callahan: I have received the petition of Susan Boschetto appealing the response ofthe Town of Shirley 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, Ms. Boschetto requested police incident reports regarding a missing child. In a response dated June 29, 2016 the Department denied Ms. Boschetto's requests in their entirety. In this response you cite Exemption (a) of the Public Records Law, but provide no other information to support the denial. Ms. Boschetto appealed. The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); 950 C.M.R. 32.08(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 10 ( c); see also District Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). 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. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Ms. Pamela Callahan SPR16/773 Page2 October 13, 2016 Order In a telephone conversation with this office you indicated you would provide a revised written response to Ms. Boschetto's requests. Accordingly, the Department is hereby ordered to review Ms. Boschetto's requests and provide a detailed written response, prepared in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. 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. Supervisor of Records cc: Ms. Susan Boschetto