Gennaro Pirone v. Braintree, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20160925)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords October 26, 2016 SPR16/925 Gennaro Pirone P.O. Box 1146 Norfolk, MA 02056 Dear Gennaro Pirone: I have received your petition appealing the response of the Town of Braintree -Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). The requirements for an appeal are as follows: Such appeal shall be in writing, shall include a copy of the original request, and shall include a copy of the letter by which the custodian made a response. The supervisor shall accept an appeal only from a person who has made his or her request in writing. An oral request, while valid as a public records request pursuant to 950 CMR 32.05 (3), may not be the basis of an appeal under 950 CMR 32.08. Given that a copy of the original request and a copy of the letter by which the custodian made a response were not included, we are unable to assist you in this appeal at this time. Please feel free to re-submit your appeal when you have retrieved copies of all the required documents. Please be advised that your personal status in the matter in question does not afford any greater right of access to the requested information, as the Public Records Law does not distinguish between requesters. Access to a record requested pursuant to the Public Records Law rests on the content of the record and not the circumstances of the requester. See Bougas v. Chief of Police of Lexington, 371 Mass. 59, 64 (1976). However some statutes and regulations allow requesters to obtain records in a manner that does not re ire a request under the Public Records Law. cc: Deputy Chief Wayne F. Foster One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us