Wayne Napolitano v. Suffolk County District Attorney's Office (SPR 20201724)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records October 1, 2020 SPR20/1724 Claudia Buruca Records Access Officer Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office One Bulfinch Place Boston, MA 02114 Dear Ms. Buruca: I have received the petition of Wayne Napolitano appealing the response of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office (Office) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Napolitano requested “a record of all defendants within Suffolk county who were active police officers at the time of their arrest and had their criminal charges dropped after invoking the ‘Brave Act’ formerly known as the ‘Valor Act.’” The Office responded to Mr. Napolitano’s request on September 2, 2020, stating that due to the COVID-19 crisis the Office’s Public Records Unit is “closed except for essential services” and states that “public record request responses may be paused until [the] office re-opens.” Unsatisfied with the Office’s response, Mr. Napolitano petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR20/1724, was opened as a result. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within 10 business days of receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)-(b ). The response may contain, among other things, an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b). Order Accordingly, the Office is ordered to provide a response to Mr. Napolitano, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten 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. 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

Claudia Buruca SPR20/1724 Page 2 October 1, 2020 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Wayne Napolitano