Andrew Quemere v. Newton, City of - Police Department (SPR 20201709)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records September 29, 2020 SPR20/1709 Steven R. Smith Bureau Commander City of Newton Police Department Information Technology Bureau 1321 Washington Street Newton, MA 02465 Dear Officer Smith: I have received the petition of Andrew Quemere appealing the response of the City of Newton Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Mr. Quemere requested records in electronic format, and asks the Department to waive any fees. Specifically, he requested: • All policies, procedures, guidelines, and training records related to the [Department’s] internal affairs investigations; • All division-wide and [D]epartment-wide reports/audits of the [Department’s] internal affairs investigations for the years 2010 to the present (by division-wide and [D]epartment-wide, I mean reports/audits that provide an overview of complaints/internal investigations for an entire division or the entire [D]epartment, not reports/audits about a specific incident; • All annual data on the number of complaints and internal affairs investigations for the years 2010 to the present (if the records containing the data contain data for additional years, it is not necessary to remove the extra information); and, • All data on the total number of complaints against each [D]epartment employee. The Department informed Mr. Quemere that all policies/procedures/guidelines and training records related to the Department’s internal affairs investigations are posted on the Department’s website. Mr. Quemere petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), when he did not receive the rest of the requested records. As a result, this office opened this appeal. In his September 16, 2020 petition, Mr. Quemere indicates that after the Department notified him of one report on its website, he found one such report redacted without any 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

Steven R. Smith SPR20/1709 Page 2 September 29, 2020 explanation to support the redactions. Further, Mr. Quemere did not receive any explanation for why his other requests were not provided. In a September 16th response, the Department informed Mr. Quemere, “[a]ny additional information should be directed to the [Police Chief], as the Records Bureau does not have access to internal employee information.” Mr. Quemere petitioned the Supervisor objecting to the Department’s directive to re- submit his request to the Department’s Police Chief (Police Chief) for any records involving internal employee information. A records access officer is required to “coordinate the custodian’s response to requests for access to public records…and…assist persons seeking public records to identify the records sought…. …” See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5)(a)-(b), (d). Burden of specificity; segregable portions In his petition, Mr. Quemere indicates, “[i]n response to my request seeking audits and data for multiple years, the [Department] notified me of one report on the [C]ity’s website. The report is redacted for unspecified reasons.” The Department is advised, pursuant to the Public Records Law, the burden shall be upon the records custodian to establish the applicability of an exemption. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(iv); see also Globe Newspaper Co. v. Police Comm'r, 419 Mass. - - - - - 852, 857 (1995); Flatley, 419 Mass. at 511. Further, the Department did not identify the records or categories of records in its possession that are responsive to Mr. Quemere’s request. It is unclear whether the Department is in possession of all the records Mr. Quemere requested. The Department must advise Mr. Quemere of any records he requested that the Department is not in possession of. I encourage the parties to continue to work together to satisfy Mr. Quemere’s request. Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Quemere with a response to the request, 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