Good Citizen v. Chelmsford, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20181733)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords November 26, 2018 SPRlS/1733 Kathleen Bennett Chelmsford Police Records Town of Chelmsford- Police Department 2 Olde North Road Chelmsford, MA O1 824 Dear Ms. Bennett: I have received your petition on behalf of th(; Town of Chelmsford's Police Department (Department) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of a requested record, or any portion thereof. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c ). As required by law, the Department furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. Id. In a request, Good Citizen sought police reports of an incident at the Stoney Brook Counseling Center. Good Citizen requested all records related to the incident. Petitions for an extension of time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). 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

Ms. Kathleen Bennett SPR18/1733 Page 2 November 26, 2018 If the Supervisor determines that the request is part of a series of contemporaneous requests that are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass, and the requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, the Supervisor may grant a longer extension or relieve the agency or municipality of its obligation to provide copies of the records sought. Id. The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requestor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). Current petition The Department petitioned this office on November 16, 2018 requesting an extension of time to "furnish copies of a requested record from 1981." The Department states "[s ]ince the r~port is not in our computer system and over 3 7 years old it is taking more time for me to be able to get the report from an area that has limited access that being the evidence area." The Department seeks a time extension in order search for the records in the evidence area and requests "extra time to review the report for any redactions." G. L. c. 66, § 10(c )(i)(ii)(iii). Under the Public Records Law and Access Regulations (Regulations), a municipality must provide a written response to the requestor within ten business days. G.L. c. 66, § 1O (b ); 950 C.M.R. 36.06(2)(a)-(b). This written response may "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." G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(vii). This office encourages the Department and Good Citizen to communicate further to enable the Department to provide the requested public records. Conclusion I find that in light of the efforts undertaken by the Department in fulfilling the request, the Department has established good cause to permit an extension of time. I hereby grant the Department an extension of a total of fifteen (15) business days from the date of this determination to furnish copies of records responsive to Good Citizen request. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(e). As stated above, the Department and Good Citizen are encouraged to communicate in order to facilitate providing responsive records in an efficient manner. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b )(vii). The Department is advised it must provide the records in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. Good Citizen may appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

Ms. Kathleen Bennett SPR18/1733 Page 3 November 26, 2018 Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Good Citizen