David Hawkins v. Amesbury, City of - Police Department (SPR 20171236)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records September 21, 2017 SPR17/1236 Kerri Reed, Esq. Town of Amesbury Police Department 19 School Street Amesbury, MA 01913 Dear Attorney Reed: I have received the petition of David Hawkins appealing the response of the Town of Amesbury 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. Hawkins requested a copy of the incident report concerning the death of an identified person that occurred on or about March 10, 2017. In its May 11th response, the Department informed Mr. Hawkins that the incident was still under investigation by the State Police Crime Prevention and Control Unit (CPC Unit); therefore, the Department would withhold the incident report until such time as the investigation is concluded. The Department claimed Exemption (f) of the Public Records Law to withhold the incident report. You explained that whenever a death has occurred, it is the State Police's CPC Unit that conducts the investigation. On September 8th, Mr.· Hawkins appealed because it was his beliefthat the investigation was taking nearly six months from the date of the incident. Status oftlte requester In his petition, Mr. Hawkins informed this office that he is an immediate family member of the decedent, and that he is entitled to more information than the general public. Mr. Hawkins should be advised that his reason for seeking the records concerning the specifically identified person's death and his relationship to the decedent offers him no greater right of access than any other person in the public realm. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a) (public records are to be provided to "any person"); see also Bougas v. Chief of Police of Lexington, 371 Mass. 59, 64 (1976). Access to a record pursuant to the Public Records Law rests on the content of the record, regardless of the circumstances of the requester. Therefore, Mr. Hawkins' status regarding the responsive records will play no role in a determination as to whether the records should be disclosed to the public. 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

Kerri Reed, Esq. SPR17/1236 Page 2 September 21, 201 7 Further, the public records appeals process shall not apply to records in which an individual, or a representative of the individual, may have a unique right of access to the records through statutory, regulatory, judicial or other applicable means. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(l)(a). In a September 20th telephone conversation with an attorney in the Public Records Division, you stated that you would notify Mr. Hawkins by email at the conclusion of the investigation and a copy of the incident report will be made available to him, if he still seeks the record. It is my understanding that the Department has already informed Mr. Hawkins that certain content within the report may be redacted. The Department was advised by this office that a cover letter or response should accompany the responsive records concerning any exemptions in the Public Records Law that apply to the withheld content from the report and why those exemptions apply. This office learned that the State Police's CPC Unit is in custody of a report concerning CPC Unit's investigation of this matter. Whereas, the Town is not the custodian of the State Police's records, Mr. Hawkins may wish to make a separate public records request to the State Police's CPC Unit for a copy of their investigation report. Accordingly, whereas the Department has notified Mr. Hawkins that a copy of the incident report will be made available to him, if he still seeks the responsive record, I will consider this appeal closed. A copy of any cover letter or response that the Department provides to Mr. Hawkins 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: David Hawkins