Maya Shaffer v. Chicopee, City of - Police Department (SPR 20200260)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records February 26, 2020 SPR20/0260 Louis Vezina Chicopee Police Department 110 Church Street Chicopee, MA O1 020 Dear Mr. Vezina: I have received the petition of Maya Shaffer of Critical A1A Nelvs appealing the response of the Chicopee Police Department (Depatiment) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; also 950 C.M.R.. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Shaffer requested "a copy of the Dec 14 [F]acebook event page for the event held at Chik-fil-A." Tlie 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, § IO(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 potiion of the responsive record. Current Appeal The Depa1iment responded to Ms. Shaffer's request on February 7, 2020, stating that the event page had been removed from Facebook, and providing "screenshots of hidden comments before the event was removed, as well as the event." In a February 7th email, Ms. Shaffer disputes the responsiveness of the records provided by the Department, stating that "none of [the screenshots] are from the Dec event. This is related to the event back in July." In a subsequent 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

Louis Vezina SPR20/0260 Page 2 February 26, 2020 email, Ms. Shaffer explains that the "first photo the CPD turned over is not the event page itself it does confirm the event happened and the rest of the photos are unrelated." 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). In light of Ms. Shaffer's statements, the Department must clarify whether it possesses any additional records responsive to her request. If the Department no longer possesses responsive records, it must explain whether it followed proper record retention protocol. Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide a response to Ms. Shaffer, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within 10 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: Maya Shaffer, Critical MA News