Patrick J. Mason v. West Springfield, City of - Police Department (SPR 20200221)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords February 19, 2020 SPR20/0221 Sargent Joseph LaFrance West Springfield Police Department 26 Central Street West Springfield, MA 01089 Dear Sargent LaFrance: I have received the petition of Patrick Mason appealing the nonresponse of the West Springfield Police Department (Department). G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Mason requested "information as it pertains to a pedestrian accident that took place on Memorial Avenue October 28, 2019," including "written or recorded statements from witnesses, 911 [c]alls and radio transmissions, photographs, and [d]ispatch log of incidents." Previous Appeals This request was the subject of previous appeals. See SPRI 9/2369 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (December 9, 2019). In my December 9th Determination, I learned that the Department provided Mr. Mason a response to his request. In an email dated November 27, 2019, the Department asserts, "[t]he police report has been emailed and the 911 recordings have been recorded onto disc and mailed via USPS." Current Appeal In an email dated January 14, 2020, Mr. Mason contends, "[a]s of this date I have only received a copy of the 911 call involving the incident. If you could provide me a status as it pertains to the other documents it would be greatly appreciated." Please be advised, 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, § 1O (a)(ii). At this time it is unclear if the Department possesses any other records responsive to Mr. Mason's 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

Thomas McGrath SPR20/0221 Page 2 February 19, 2020 Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide a response to the request in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations without delay. 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: Patrick Mason