Joshua Eaton v. Boston, City of - Police Department (SPR 20161080)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A Williams Supervisor of Records December 7, 2016 SPR16/1080 Lt. Michael McCarthy Boston Police Department Office of Media Relations One Schroeder Plaza Boston, MA 02120 Dear Lt. McCarthy: I have received the petition of Joshua Eaton appealing the nomesponse of the Boston Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lO(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Eaton requested a number of records pertaining to "Marijuana offenses." Having received no response, Mr. Eaton petitioned this office. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten (10) 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. All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Despite being provided with an acknowledgement letter for the opening of this appeal dated November 28, 2016 a copy of the file, as well as a December 1 follow up email by a member of my staff, the Department has failed to respond to the request. Accordingly, the Department is hereby ordered without delay to review the request made by Mr. Eaton and provide a written response to Mr. Eaton, made in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order. Mr. Eaton may appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). cc: Mr. Joshua Eaton 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