Andrew McIsaac v. Nantucket, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20161230)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records December 30, 2016 SPR16/1230 Deputy Chief Charles Gibson Town of Nantucket Police Department 4 Fairgrounds Road Nantucket, MA 02554 2804 Dear Deputy Chief Gibson: I have received the petition of Andrew Mcisaac appealing the response of the Town of Nantucket 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, Mr. Mcisaac requested copies of all arrest/booking reports generated on July 4, 2016. The Department responded in a letter dated December 22, 2016. Mr. Mcisaac appealed the Department's December 22 response. It is his position that the Department: 1) failed to cite any exemption to the Public Records Law that justifies withholding information; and 2) failed to provide a good faith fee estimate for the provision of responsive records. Exemptions In its response the Department indicated that any responsive records would be "subject to redaction." If, upon payment of the estimated fee by Mr. Mcisaac, the Department maintains that any portion ofthe responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must provide to Mr. Mcisaac 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. I find the Department merely notified Mr. Mcisaac the responsive records would be "subject to redaction," as would any government record. Whereas I find the Department has not yet asserted an exemption, I will consider this portion of the appeal closed. 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

Deputy Chief Charles Gibson SPR16/1230 Page 2 December 30, 2016 Fee estimate The Department explained there are approximately 40 arrest records for July 4, 2016. You indicated that Mr. Mcisaac can more clearly define the scope, or limit his request to particular records in order for the fee to be less. Alternatively, Mr. Mcisaac can inform the Department he is not interested in narrowing the scope of his request and the Department would provide him with a fee estimate for the provision of records responsive to his entire request. In a December 29, 2016 telephone conversation with a member of my staff you agreed to provide Mr. Mcisaac with a revised fee estimate. Accordingly, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed with the proviso that the Department provide said response to Mr. Mcisaac made in compliance with the Public Records Law and its Regulations. Mr. Mcisaac may appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response with ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Sincerely, trJ{MAA4ff- Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Andrew Mcisaac