Ruben Saldana v. Lawrence, City of - Fire Department (SPR 20170668)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords May 23, 2017 SPR17/668 Chief James X. Fitspatrick Chief of Police Lawrence Police Department 90 Lowell Street Lawrence, MA O1 840 Dear Chief Fitzpatrick: I have received the petition of Ruben Saldana appealing the response of the Lawrence Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Specifically, Mr. Saldana requested copies of all police reports relating to a specified arrest. Mr. Saldana received one incident report in response to his request. Mr. Saldana petitioned this office, and SPR 17 /668 was opened as a result. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten (10) business days of receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a ),(b ). The response may contain, among other things, an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b ). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Subsequent to the intervention by a member of the Public Records Division staff, this office was notified that a further response was provided, with further responsive records enclosed. Whereas this matter was opened based upon the Department's failure to provide a final written response, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Mr. Saldana may appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Ruben Saldana 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