Joshua Dankoff v. Fall River, City of - Police Department (SPR 20201044)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records July 13, 2020 SPR20/1044 Captain Jeffrey Cardoza Records Custodian Fall River Police Department 685 Pleasant Street Fall River, MA 02721 Dear Captain Cardoza: I have received the petition of Joshua Dankoff of Citizens for Juvenile Justice (CFJJ) appealing the response of the Fall River Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on March 9, 2020, Mr. Dankoff requested public records regarding “documents in the possession of City of Fall River regarding the municipality’s information sharing, gang monitoring, stop and frisk and school policing policies and more specifically copies of all current municipal and departmental policies for the period of time September 1, 2014 to the date of the request related to the following: 1. Data sharing and cooperation agreements or memorandums of understanding with federal immigration authorities. 2. Data sharing and cooperation agreements or memorandums of understanding with regional intelligence (such as the Boston Regional Intelligence Center (“BRIC”) or the Massachusetts Commonwealth Fusion Center). 3. Data sharing and cooperation agreements or memorandums of understanding with school districts or individual schools in your jurisdiction. 4. Gathering and storing of gang information, including: a. Policies for identifying and labeling gang members or individuals suspected of gang affiliation b. Policies for maintaining and verifying information contained in any “gang database” c. Policies for individuals to appeal listing on such a database d. Policies related to the sharing of database information with other local or federal authorities 5. Stop and frisk policies, and field interrogation policies. 6. School policing policies and, to the extent available on the municipal level: a. School discipline policies b. School policies regarding information sharing with law enforcement c. School policies related to undocumented children or children of undocumented parents. 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

Captain Jeffrey Cardoza SPR20/1044 Page 2 July 13, 2020 7. All documents closely related to but not specified above. Unsatisfied with the response, Mr. Dankoff appealed and SPR20/1044 was opened as a result. 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, § 10A(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, § 10(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). Current Petition In his petition dated June 30, 2020, Mr. Dankoff petitioned this office to open an appeal relating to March 27, 2020 and March 31, 2020 responses from the Department. The Public Records Access Regulations, which govern the procedural aspects of all appeals, require that an appeal to this office be filed within ninety calendar days of the date of the request letter, or within ninety calendar days of the date of a written response from the record custodian. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(e). The petition is requesting the appeal of the Department’s March 31, 2020 response, which exceeds the ninety day limit. Mr. Dankoff may make a new request to the Department for the same information. The Department would then have ten business days in which to respond to your new request. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)-(b). If the Department denies the request or fails to respond within ten business days, Mr. Dankoff may appeal to this office within the above timeframe. At that time this office will review the matter. Sincerely. Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Joshua Dankoff