Brian E. Smith v. Abington, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20170680)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records May 30, 2017 SPR17/680 Chief David G. Majenski Town of Abington - Police Department 215 Central Street Abington, MA 02351 Dear Chief Majenski: I have received the petition of Brian Smith appealing the nonresponse of the Town of Abington - 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. Smith requested a copy of the "Abington Police Department Confidential Informant Policy." Having received no response, Mr. Smith 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 business days ofreceipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(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, § lO(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. 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 I understand a member of the Public Records Division emailed you a copy of the file and also mailed a letter acknowledging the opening of this appeal. Accordingly, the Department is hereby ordered to provide Mr. Smith with a response to the request, provided in a manner 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

Chief David G. Majenski SPR17/680 Page 2 May 30, 2017 consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten business days. A copy of any such response 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, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Brian Smith