Robert Aldrich v. Arlington, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20192153)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records October 23, 2019 SPR19/2153 Ray Santilli Arlington Town Hall 730 Massachusetts Avenue Arlington, MA 02476 Dear Mr. Santilli: I have received the petition of Robert Aldrich appealing the response of the Arlington Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66~ § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically Mr. Aldrich requested, "Captain Curran's official status in 1990 as to whether he possessed special police powers, pursuant to G. L. c. 41, § 99, in the City of Boston." Unsatisfied with the Department's response, Mr. Aldrich petitioned this office and as a result SPRl9/2153 was opened. 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 ,e stablishing 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. Current Appeal In a letter to this office dated October 15, 2019 the Department states, "[i]n the past three months, Mr. Aldrich has submitted a public records request to the Town of Arlington on four separate occasions seeking documentation on this subject matter. Written responses were 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

Ray Santilli SPR19/2153 Page2 October 23, 2019 provided each instance to Mr. Aldrich that such responsive record did not exist within the Town of Arlington. The individual requests and written responses are attached." In his letter to this office dated October 17, 2019 Mr. Aldrich states, "since the Arlington Police Department refuse to produce the requested public record of whether or not Captain James Curran was duly authorized with special police powers, pursuant to G. L. c. 41, § 99, in the City of Boston, in 1990, I followed up with a direct public record request to Captain James Curran himself to produce such a public record, if ever it existed." Mr. Aldrich adds, "Captain James Curran ought to know whether or not he was duly deputized and/or authorized with special police powers, pursuant to G. L. c. 41, § 99, in the City of Boston, in 1990, or not. Which is most certainly a matter of public record, pursuant to G. L. c. 4, § 7, cl. 26." No Duty to Create Records Please be advised, under the Public Records Law the Department is not required to create a record in response to a public records request. See G. L. c. 66, §6A( d). 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 ofrecords at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii). Conclusion Whereas the Department does not possess records responsive to Mr. Aldrich's request and has no duty to create records responsive to the request, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, ~~ Supervisor of Records cc: Robert Aldrich Captain James Curran Chief Juliann Flaherty