Arthur G. Grenier v. Lowell, City of - City Solicitor (SPR 20190181)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records February 11, 2019 SPR19/0181 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, § IOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, 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 appeals The responsive records were the subject of two prior appeals. See SPR18/1528 and SPR18/2108 Determinations of the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) (October 30, 2018 and 111 January 4, 2019). In my October 30 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. In my January 4th determination, I advised the Department that public records must be maintained and kept in a manner that allows access to the general public. See G. L. c. 66, § IO(a). I found that the Department must provide a further response to Mr. Grenier to clarify whether the records can be recovered in a readable format. I also directed a copy of my January 4th determination to the Records Management Unit of this office. Current appeal The Department provided Mr. Grenier with a further response on January 25, 2019. This response states, "[a]fter speaking with the [City's] Police Department, it is my understanding that 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. SPR19/0181 Page 2 February 11, 2019 the data cannot be rendered in a readable format by the City. It is possible that the vendor could retrieve the data in a readable format. However, there would be considerable cost associated with the retrieval, and there is no guarantee that the data you are looking for would be present and correct when the retrieval was finished." Your January 25th response indicates that no GPS data was purged or destroyed; however, the City no longer has the software to render the records in a readable format. As a result of the Department's January response, Mr. Grenier petitioned the Supervisor, and the current appeal was opened. With his petition, Mr. Grenier supplied this office with the Department's General Order: 320 pertaining to Automatic Vehicle Locating System (AVLS System). The General Order Procedures section, Paragraph D(3), provides: "[t]he Captain assigned to Communications/Staff Services will ensure the ownership, storage, and evidential disclosure of recording materials will be done in accordance with Massachusetts General Law and Federal regulations." The Department is advised again that public records must be maintained and kept in a manner that allows access by the public, as they are subject to mandatory disclosure upon request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(a); see also Reinstein v. Police Comm'r of Boston, 378 Mass. 281, 289- 90 (1979). Given that the Department has asserted it has not destroyed any GPS data but it lacks the ability to render the records in a readable format, it is unclear how the Department has complied with Massachusetts General Laws and Federal Regulations with respect to the storage and disclosure of the requested record. Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Grenier with a further response to the request, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its 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. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Arthur Grenier