Pat Bender v. Wayland, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20191195)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords June 27, 2019 SPR19/1195 Chief Patrick Swanick Wayland Police Department Town of Wayland 38 Cochituate Rd Wayland, MA O1 778 Dear Chief Swanick: I have received the petition of Pat Bender appealing the response of the Newton Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on December 11, 2018, Mr. Bender requested the "electronic disclosure of their daily log as required by 98F." Previous appeal This appeal was the subject of previous appeal. See SPR19/0635 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (April 2, 2019). In my April 211 determination I ordered the Department d to provide Mr. Bender with a response in accordance with the provisions of the Public Records Law. The Department responded to Mr. Bender with copies of their daily logs. Unsatisfied with the records, Mr. Bender appealed and SPR19/1195 was opened as a result. The 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, § lOA(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, § 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, § lO(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian 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

Chief Patrick Swanick SPR19/1195 Page 2 June 27, 2019 must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. Current appeal In his appeal petition Mr. Bender indicates "the public body provided copies of the logs which did not comply with state law specifically 98F. The logs violate state law because the logs failed to disclose the name, residential address and charges for each arrestee as required by 98F." G. L. c. 41, § 98F provides the following: Each police department and each college or university to which officers have been appointed pursuant to section 63 of chapter 22C shall make, keep and maintain a daily log, written in a form that can be easily understood, recording, in chronological order, all responses to valid complaints received, crimes reported, the names, addresses of persons arrested and the charges against such persons arrested. All entries in said daily logs shall, unless otherwise provided in law, be public records available without charge to the public during regular business hours and at all other reasonable times; provided, however, that the following entries shall be kept in a separate log and shall not be a public record nor shall such entry be disclosed to the public, or any individual not specified in section 97D: (i) any entry in a log which pertains to a handicapped individual who is physically or mentally incapacitated to the degree that said person is confined to a wheelchair or is bedridden or requires the use of a device designed to provide said person with mobility, (ii) any information concerning responses to reports of domestic violence, rape or sexual assault, (iii) any entry concerning the arrest of a person for assault, assault and battery or violation of a protective order where the victim is a family or household member, as defined in section 1 of chapter 209A, or (iv) any entry concerning the arrest of a person who has not yet reached 18 years of age. In light of the language of G. L. c. 41, § 98F, specifically that police departments " ... shall make, keep and maintain a daily log, written in a form that can be easily understood, recording, in chronological order, all responses to valid complaints received, crimes reported, the names, addresses of persons arrested and the charges against such persons arrested," and that "[a]ll entries in said daily logs shall, unless otherwise provided in law, be public records available without charge to the public during regular business hours and at all other reasonable times," I find the Department must clarify whether it maintains responsive logs in compliance with G. L. c. 41, § 98F. Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Bender a response, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within 10 business days.

Chief Patrick Swanick SPR19/1195 Page 3 June 27, 2019 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: Pat Bender