Charlotte Whitmore v. Springfield, City of - Office of the City Clerk (SPR 20180357)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords April 3, 2018 SPRlS/357 Attorney Anthony Wilson Springfield City Clerk 36 Court Street Springfield, MA O1 103 Dear Attorney Wilson: I have received the petition of Attorney Charlotte Whitmore appealing the response of the City of Springfield (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Attorney Whitmore requested "a copy of any and all documents in possession of the Springfield Police Department regarding current interrogation or witness interviewing techniques and procedures." Unsatisfied with the City's response, Attorney Whitmore petitioned this office. In a response letter dated March 9, 2018, you expressed to Attorney Whitmore that there are no records responsive to her request. In the letter, you state, "[p] ersonnel in the Police Department have advised me that there are no records that are responsive to your request." In a letter dated Mach 20, 2018 Attorney Whitmore provided this office a website link to Department's training programs and expressed that she believes the Springfield Police Department (Department) does have training or policy materials related to interrogation and/or 111 witness interviewing techniques. In the March 20 letter, Attorney Whitmore writes, "[t]he Springfield Police Department has an extensive training program, as explained on their website ... the SPD Training Division includes the Academy, In-Service Training, the Police Officer Training Program, the Cadet Training Program, and the Citizen Police Academy." In a supplemental response dated April 3, 2018, the City explains "[t]he City of Springfield does not keep, maintain or store any training materials for police officers. All police officer training is performed by the Municipal Police Training Committee (MPTC), a state agency." The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian ofrecords at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii). 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

Anthony Wilson, Esq. SPR18/357 Page 2 April 3, 2018 In light of the City's April 3rd response, I find it has met its burden in responding to Attorney Whitmore' s request. See G. L. c. 66, § 1 O(b )(ii)-(iii) (a records access officer must "identify any public records or categories of public records sought that are not within the possession, custody, or control of the agency or municipality that the records access officer serves" and "identify the agency or municipality that may be in possession, custody or control of the public record sought, if known"). Sincerely, ~~/ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Charlotte Whitmore, Esq.