Maya Shaffer v. Boston, City of - Police Department (SPR 20181030)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records July 26,2018 SPR1811030 Martha J. DeMaio City of Boston - Police Department One Schroeder Plaza Boston, MA 02120 Dear Ms. DeMaio: I have received the petition of Maya Shaffer appealing the response of the City of Boston - Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, 5 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Shaffer requested "[a]ll correspondence between the BRIC and schools and or people working at the schools (including resource officers) regarding immigration from the beginning of 2018 to present" and "[all1 correspondence with ICE regarding immigration from the beginning of 20 18 to present." The Department responded to her request claiming the "request.. . is too broad and non-specific, the Boston Police Department will require further clarification in order to process this request." Tlze 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, 5 10A(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, 5 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 4 19 Mass. 507, 5 11 (19 95) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, 3 lO(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. One Ashburton Place, Room 171 9, Boston, Massachusetts 02 108 (6 17) 727-2832. Fax: (6 17) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre pre@sec.state.ma.us

Martha J. DeMaio Page 2 July 26,2018 Compliance with the requirements of providing a response The Department's response indicates that Ms. Shaffer's "request.. . is too broad and non- specific, the Boston Police Department will require further clarification in order to process this request." The Department requests Ms. Shaffer contact its Office of Media Relations as the Department "require[s] further clarification to process [her] request." The Department is advised that pursuant to the Public Records Law, a records access officer's (RAO) written response must be provided within ten business days, and must also comply with the criteria listed in the statute. The written response shall be made via first class or electronic mail and shall: (i) confirm receipt of the request; (ii) 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; (iii) identify the agency or municipality that may be in possession, custody or control of the public record sought, if known; (iv) identify any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends to withhold, and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based, provided that nothing in the written response shall limit an agency's or municipality's ability to redact or withhold information in accordance with state or federal law; (v) identify any public records, categories of records, or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends to produce, and provide a detailed statement describing why the magnitude or difficulty of the request unduly burdens the other responsibilities of the agency or municipality and therefore requires additional time to produce the public records sought; (vi) identify a reasonable timeframe in which the agency or municipality shall produce the public records sought; provided, that for an agency, the timeframe shall not exceed 15 business days following the initial receipt of the request for public records and for a municipality the timeframe shall not exceed 25 business days following the initial receipt of the request for public records; and provided further, that the requestor may voluntarily agree to a response date beyond the timeframes set forth herein; (vii) suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency or municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably; (viii) include an itemized, good faith estimate of any fees that may be charged to produce the records; and (ix) include a statement informing the requestor of the right of appeal to the supervisor of records under subsection (a) of section IOA and the right to

Martha J. DeMaio Page 3 July 26,2018 seek judicial review of an unfavorable decision by commencing a civil action in the superior court under subsection (c) of section 10A. I understand a Public Records Division staff attorney contacted the Department about this matter. A representative from the Department indicated that while this appeal was pending, the Department and Ms. Shaffer have had further communications regarding this request. This office encourages the parties to continue communications in order to enable the Department to comply with the request. Order Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Ms. Shaffer with a response to the request, provided in a manner 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 v Supervisor of Records cc: Maya Shaffer