Jamie Truman v. Chester, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20200421)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords March 2, 2020 SPR20/0421 Dan Ilnicky Chief of Police Chester Police Department 15 Middlefield Rd. Chester, MA 01011 Dear Chief Ilnicky: I have received the petition of Jamie Truman appealing the nonresponse of the Town of Chester Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G, L. c. 66, § IOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on January 14, 2020, the requestor sought a "[l]ist of all accounts blocked by any official Chester Police Depaiiment social media page." The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmentalrecords 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 portion of the responsive record. Conclusion Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of the Public Records Division, I learned that the Department provided a response to this request. In an email dated February 28, 2020, you state, "[t]he Chester-Blandford Police Department does not use social media, nor do we provide feeds, block, or disseminate through these sources." 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

SPR20/0421 Chief Dan Ilnicky Page 2 March 2, 2020 In light of the Department's February 28th email, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. The requestor may appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, ~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Jamie Truman