Marc Aldana v. Holden, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20181888)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords December 11, 2018 SPRlS/1888 D. M. Moschos, Esq. Mirick O'Connell 100 Front Street Worcester, MA 01608-1477 Dear Attorney Moschos: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Holden (Town) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of a requested record, or any portion thereof. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, the Town furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c ) . Specifically, Marc Aldana requested: 1. Any investigation [a n identified individual] was conducting or assisting in, pertaining to Armed Robberies involving a firearm of a convenience store in the town of Holden Massachusetts. And any document that details [ an identified individual] as a suspect in any of those Armed Robberies mentioned above. Whether these records be held at Holden Police Department, 1370 Main St. Holden MA 01520 or any other such location pertaining to the Holden Police. Documents may include but are not limited to any police reports, hand written notes, electronically written notes or logs. 2. Police Reports of two incidents occurring at 205 Salisbury St. Holden MA 01520 and 88 Moscow Rd. Jefferson MA 01522. These incidents and or crimes occurred between the months of May 2017 to August 2017. 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; 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

D. M. Moschos, Esq. SPR18/1888 Page2 December 11, 2018 (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). 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 Mr. Aldana's request was the subject of a previous appeal with this office. See SPR18/1640 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (November 21, 2018). The Town initially denied access to responsive records under Exemptions (a), (c) and (f) of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(a), (c), (f). In my November 21st determination, I ordered the Town to review the records, redact where necessary, and provide Mr. Aldana with responsive records, provided in a manner consistent with the order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within 10 business days. In the Town's December 4, 2018 petition you indicate "[y]our order dated November 21, 2018, was received by the Holden Police Department's Records Access Officer on November 27, 2018, making the response due on or before December 11, 2018. Due to the sensitive nature of the requested material, we will require additional time in order to appropriately respond to this request. We respectfully request an extension of time to December 21, 2018 to provide the response." In a letter dated December 10, 2018 you assert "[w]e have been provided with documentation by the Town, that may be responsive to the request, which includes two matters: (1) an incident that dates back to 2013, and (2) another incident that occurred in 2017. Based on our current understanding, however, one or possibly both matters are linked to more serious crimes, which are being actively investigated by another police department. We are in the process of trying to clarify or confirm the status of these matters."

D. M. Moschos, Esq. SPR18/1888 Page 3 December 11, 2018 The Town also provides information regarding the applicability of exemptions, specifically noting that "[i]f the Town were to release documents prior to that, without redacting certain confidential information, it could potentially jeopardize the on-going active investigations and public safety. Due to the sensitive nature of the information, we need to carefully review and potentially redact such information, which cannot be completed by the due date of December 11, 2018." I find that in light of my previous determination, the actions required of the Town therein and the efforts undertaken to respond to the order, the Town has established good cause to permit an extension of time. I hereby grant the Town an extension until December 21, 2018 to provide responsive records. To the extent possible, the Town must provide responsive records on a rolling basis. Conclusion For the reasons discussed above, the Town.is granted an extension of time to comply with the order in the manner described above. The response must be provided in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law, its Regulations and my previous determination. See SPR18/1640. Mr. Aldana may appeal the substantive nature of the Town's response within 90 days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Please note that the requestor has the right to seek judicial review of an unfavorable decision by commencing a civil action in the superior court. See G. L. c. 66, §§ 10(c ), 1O A( c ). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Marc Aldana