Andrew Quemere v. Springfield, City of - Police Department (SPR 20191501)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records August 7, 2019 SPR19/1501 Andrea L. Stone Public Records Coordinator City of Springfield 36 Court Street, Room 123 Springfield, MA 01103 Dear Ms. Stone: I have received the petition of Andrew Quemere appealing the response of the City of Springfield (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1) Specifically, on July 18, 2019, Mr. Quemere requested various categories ofrecords concerning "the drug fentanyl and carfentanil for police officers, firefighters, EMS workers, and health Department workers." In a letter dated July 24, 2019, the City provided Mr. Quemere a link to retrieve records responsive to his request. Unsatisfied by this response, Mr. Quemere petitioned this office, and as a result SPRl 9/1501 was opened. 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 must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. Appeal In a letter to this office dated July 24, 2019, Mr. Quemere writes, "I sent the city of Springfield a public records request (see attached). The city states that to view the responsive records, I must log into a service hosted on the city's website. I object to response. My request 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

SPR19/1501 Andrea L. Stone Page 2 August 7, 2019 was submitted by email and therefore the records should have been provided as email attachments unless there are technical limitations that prevent this." July 29111 Letter Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of the Public Record's Division, I learned that the City provided Mr. Quemere a supplemental response with records responsive to his request in an email dated July 29, 2019. In a letter to this office dated July 29, 2019 Mr. Quemere writes, "[t]he city contacted me this morning, but it has simply provided me with a second copy of its response letter and still has not actually provided the requested records." Conclusion 111 In light of Mr. Quemere' s July 29 letter, as well as the City's communication with this office, this office encourages Mr. Quemere and the City to communicate further to enable the City to provide the requested public records. G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(i) (the request must reasonably describe the public record sought). 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). If unresolved issues remain, Mr. Quemere may appeal the substantive nature of the City's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, ~~ Supervisor of Records cc: Andrew Quemere Anthony I. Wilson, Esq.