Tim McDonald v. Boston, City of - Police Department (SPR 20191327)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supen•isor of Records July 12, 2019 SPR19/1327 Shawn Williams, Esq. Public Records Access Officer Boston City Hall I City Hall Sq. Room 615 Boston, MA 02201 Dear Attorney Williams: I have received the petition from Tim McDonald appealing the nomesponse from the City of Boston's Police Department (Department) regarding a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Mr. McDonald sent a request on May 16, 2019 to the Department for records of Boston Police Incident Report No. # 162051913 This office received a letter on July 2, 2019 from Mr. McDonald requesting an appeal stating the Department has not responded or produced records responsive to his request. Appeal Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten business days of receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)-(b). The response may contain, among other things, an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. G. L. c. 66, § lO(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. 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) (written response must "identify any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends to withhold, and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based ... "); 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). It is unclear if the Department possesses the records requested by Mr. McDonald. See G. 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

Shawn Williams, Esq. SPRl9/1327 Page 2 July 12,2019 L. c. 66, § IO(a)(ii), (b)(ii), (iii). The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii), (b)(ii). Also, the duty to comply with requests for records extends to identifying the agency or municipality that may be in possession, custody, or control of the public record sought, if known. See G. L. c. 66, § IO(b)(iii). If the records are within the Department's possession and they intend to withhold the documents an exemption must be provided as stated above. See G. L. c. 66, § IO(b)(iv) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). Accordingly, the Department is ordered to review the request made by Mr. McDonald and provide any requested records in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order within ten 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: Tim McDonald