Arthur G. Grenier v. Lowell, City of - City Solicitor (SPR 20182108)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords January 4, 2019 SPRlS/2108 Hannah Pappenheim, Esq. City of Lowell Law Department 375 Merrimack Street; 3rd Floor Lowell, MA 01852 Dear Attorney Pappenheim: I have received the petition of Arthur Grenier appealing the response of the City of Lowell (City) - Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on October 4, 2018 Mr. Grenier requested responsive records related to a report described on Page 56 of the Department's TrackStar AVLS System (TrackStar) user manual. Mr. Grenier indicated that he is seeking "the speed; heading; [GPS] fix; location; distance; idling; movement summary; speed violation report and stop summary for the Department's Marked Cruiser 4, on April 5, 2018 between 2145 hours to 2245 hours." Prior appeal - SPRJ 8/1528 The responsive records were the subject of a prior appeal. See SPRl 8/1528 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) (October 30, 2018). The Department provided an initial response on October 16, 2018, denying access to responsive records pursuant to Exemptions (b), (f), and (n) of the Public Records Law. Unsatisfied with the Department's October 16th response, Mr. Grenier petitioned the Supervisor and appeal SPRl 8/1528 was opened. In my October 30th determination, I found that the Department did not meet its burden to show how Exemptions (b), (f) and (n) apply to allow the Department to withhold the responsive records in their entirety. Accordingly, I ordered the Department to provide a further response concerning the responsive records. Current appeal - records management ih, On December you provided Mr. Grenier with a response on behalf of the Department stating, "[i]n endeavoring to comply with the [Supervisor's] order, it has come to my attention 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

Hannah Pappenheim, Esq. SPR18/2108 Page 2 January 4, 2019 that the requested records do not in fact exist. The TrackStar A VL server was decommissioned in July of 2018. When it was decommissioned, the records that it contained were no longer stored. Therefore, the records you are looking for from April 5, 2018 no longer exist." Mr. Grenier's December 2ih email to this office indicates that he seeks clarification from the City as to whether the Department's records can somehow be recovered from an electronic records' server, cloud-based system or from the vendor, TrackStar. Moreover, Mr. Grenier is concerned that the records may not have been maintained by the Department. In a January 11, 2019 email to both the Department and City Council, Mr. Grenier inquired whether the Department has a copy of any form seeking permission to pur~e or destroy the responsive records. When he did not receive a response to his January 11 t inquiry, Mr. Grenier petitioned the Supervisor for a second time. As a result, SPRl 8/2108 was opened. In a January 3, 2019 conversation, a Public Records Division staff attorney inquired whether the requested records were in fact purged or destroyed. It is my understanding that you clarified to this office that the information does exist; however, the information is not in a decipherable format. You posit that without the TrackStar software, you are unsure whether the records can be recovered or provided in a readable format. The Department is advised that public records must be maintained and kept in a manner that allows access by the general public, as they are subject to mandatory disclosure upon request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(a); see also Reinstein v. Police Commissioner of Boston, 378 Mass. 281, 289-90 (1979). I find that the Department must provide a further response to Mr. Grenier to clarify whether the records can be recovered in a readable format from an electronic records server, cloud-based archive or through the vendor. I will direct a copy of this letter to the Records Management Unit of this office (RMU). The RMU assists state and local government entities in creating, managing, securing, and preserving records needed to conduct business and protect the rights and obligations of citizens and government. Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide a response to Mr. Grenier in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations within 10 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.

Hannah Pappenheim, Esq. SPR18/2108 Page 3 January 4, 2019 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Arthur Grenier Secretary of the Commonwealth Records Management Unit