Donell Nicholson v. Braintree, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20170484)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 19, 2017 SPR17/484 Lieutenant Kevin Ware Braintree Police Department 282 Union Street Braintree, MA 02184 Dear Lieutenant Ware: I have received the petition of Dorrell Nicholson appealing the response of the Braintree Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Nicholson requested a particular incident report. The Department responded to his request by providing an incident report, however, it was not the report Mr. Nicholson requested. 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, § lOA( d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(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). To assist in requesting and responding to requests for public records please refer to our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is available on the Internet, free of charge, at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf. Public Records Division attorneys are available during regular business hours to answer general questions regarding the Public Records Law. In addition, Public Records Division staff will visit a records custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. Please contact the Public Records Division directly at the telephone number provided in this determination for further information. Order This office was notified, in a conversation with a member of the Public Records Division staff, that a response will be provided by Thursday, April20, 2017. A copy of any such response 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

Lieutenant Kevin Ware SPR17/484 Page 2 April19, 2017 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. Sincerely, ~urr~ Supervisor of Records cc: Dorrell Nicholson