Andrew Quemere v. Peabody, City of - Police Department (SPR 20201464)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records September 3, 2020 SPR20/1464 Lt. Douglas S. Marcus Keeper of Records Peabody Police Department 6 Allen’s Lane Peabody, MA 01960 Dear Lt. Marcus: I have received the petition Andrew Quemere appealing the response of the Peabody Police Department (Department) to requests for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Quemere requested: • “All audits of the police department's overtime system from 2010 to the present. • All lists, logs, and databases of lawsuits filed against the police department for the years 2010 to the present (if any responsive records contain information about additional years, it is not necessary to remove the extra information) • The police department's current use-of-force policies A blank copy of each form used to report use-of-force incidents (if the form is part of a computer program and is not easily exportable, it is acceptable to provide screenshots) • All division-wide and department-wide use-of-force reports/audits for the years 2010 to the present (by division-wide and department-wide, I mean reports/audits that examine use of force by an entire division or the entire department, not reports/audits about a specific use-of-force incident) • All data on the number of use-of-force incidents for the years 2010 to the present All data on the total number of use-of-force incidents involving each department employee.” The Department responded on August 25, 2020, seeking additional time to respond to Mr. Quemere’s requests. Unsatisfied with the Department’s response, Mr. Quemere petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR20/1464, was opened as a result. Current Appeal In its responses, the Department indicates that it intends to provide a response to the 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

Lt. Douglas S. Marcus SPR20/1464 Page 2 September 3, 2020 requests, and states that it “will be extending the time allotted for an additional twenty-five (25) business days to allow the department more time to investigate and complete the request.” In his appeal petition, Mr. Quemere states that “the law only allows 25 business days total, not 25 additional days” and asserts that the Department’s response is insufficient. Please note that G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vi) permits a municipality to “identify a reasonable timeframe in which the…municipality shall produce the public records sought; provided…for a municipality the timeframe shall not exceed 25 business days following the initial receipt of the request for public records…..” In its August 25th email, the Department states that it “would like to workout an agreeable time frame due to the amount of records that must be researched due to the large time frame.” This office encourages the parties to communicate to facilitate providing Mr. Quemere with the records he seeks. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vii) (an agency or municipality shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency or municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Quemere with a response to the requests, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within twenty-five business days of the initial receipt of each request. 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: Andrew Quemere