Stephen G. Crowne v. Lexington, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20160945)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor of Records November 7, 2016 SPR16/945 Michael McLean Captain of Administration Town of Lexington-Police Department 1575 Massachusetts Avenue Lexington, MA 02173 Dear Captain McLean: I have received the petition of Stephen G. Crowne, Esq. appealing the response of the Town of Lexington-Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Attorney Crowne requested a copy of a specifically identified. incident report. In a form letter, the Department denied his request, and Attorney Crowne 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. Right of access Please note that the reason for which a requestor seeks access to or a copy of a public record does not afford any greater right of access to the requested information than other persons in the general public. The Public Records Law does not distinguish between requesters. Access 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

Captain Michael McLean SPR16/945 Page2 November 7, 2016 i! 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, 3 71 Mass. 59, 64 (1976). Department use off orm response lacks specificity The Department's response consists of a one-page form with a list of reasons for denial. There is a check mark next to the term "ongoing criminal case," but otherwise the Department provided no exemption or explanation to support its denial of access to records. I understand an attorney on my staff contacted you about this appeal. Order I find the Department has failed to meet its statutory and regulatory obligation to state, with specificity, the specific reasons for withholding responsive records. Accordingly, the Department is hereby ordered to provide Attorney Crowne with a revised response to the request, 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.c It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. cc: Stephen G. Crowne, Esq.