Andrew Quemere v. Weymouth, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20201670)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records September 24, 2020 SPR20/1670 Captain Joseph Comperchio Weymouth Police Department 140 Winter Street Weymouth, MA 02188 Dear Captain Comperchio: I have received the petition of Andrew Quemere appealing the response of the Weymouth 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 August 24, 2020, Mr. Quemere requested the following categories of records: [1] The police department’s current use-of-force policies [2] 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) [3] 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) [4] All data on the number of use-of-force incidents for the years 2010 to the present [5] All data on the total number of use-of-force incidents involving each department employee[]. Previous appeal The requested records were the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR20/1658 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (September 17, 2020). SPR1658 was closed after the Department provided Mr. Quemere with a response on September 11, 2020. The Department provided a fee estimate. Objecting to the timeliness of the fee estimate, Mr. Quemere petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR20/1670, was opened as a result. 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 Joseph Comperchio SPR20/1670 Page 2 September 24, 2020 Fee estimates A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(i). Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first (two) 2 hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested unless the municipality has 20,000 people or less. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii). Where appropriate, municipalities may include as part of the fee an hourly rate equal to or less than the hourly rate attributed to the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. Id. However, municipalities may charge more than $25 per hour if such rate is approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). A fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The Department’s September 11th fee estimate In its September 11, 2020 fee estimate, the Department indicates “[t]he estimate[d] time to complete this request i[s] 4 hours. This includes the gathering of documents, examining the documents, and applying redactions. The total cost in labor for these documents is $50.00. Two (2) hours are free and the additional two (2) hours labor is $50.00. . . .” G. L. c. 66, § 10(e) In his appeal petition Mr. Quemere states “[i]n response to my request, the Weymouth Police Department has assessed a $50 fee. However, the department did not provide the estimate within 10 business days, and therefore the department cannot charge fees for the request per state law.” G. L. c. 66, § 10(e) provides that “[a] records access officer shall not charge a fee for a public record unless the records access officer responded to the requestor within 10 business days under subsection (b).” Where Mr. Quemere submitted a public records request on August 24, 2020, and the Department provided a response on September 11th, I find it is unclear whether the Department complied with G. L. c. 66, § 10(e). Specifically, the Department must demonstrate whether it provided a response to Mr. Quemere’s request under G. L. c. 66, § 10(b) within 10 business days of receipt of the request.

Captain Joseph Comperchio SPR20/1670 Page 3 September 24, 2020 Reasonableness of fee estimate In the event that the Department can demonstrate that it complied with G. L. c. 66, § 10(e), it is necessary to analyze the reasonableness of the fee estimate. In its estimate, the Department indicates that it is assessing a fee for 4 hours which includes “. . . the gathering of documents, examining the documents, and applying redactions.” However, it is unclear why the Department requires 4 hours to complete these tasks. The Department must provide additional information explaining why the estimated amount of time is required and what these tasks; especially, “gathering of records” and “examining records” entail. Also the Department’s estimate does not make clear how many hours are being allocated to gathering, examining, and redacting of the records. The Department must clarify this estimate. Further, the Department indicates that it is assessing a fee for redacting records. The Department is reminded that under the Public Records Law, a fee may not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(ii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). I am not aware that the Department has submitted a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). Please note that petitions seeking permission to assess fees must be made within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(g). As such, I find the Department must provide information about whether the responsive records contain information that is required by law to be segregated or redacted, as well as the applicable statutes, if any. Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Quemere with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (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: Andrew Quemere