Andrew Quemere v. Northampton, City of - City Clerk (SPR 20201852)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records October 15, 2020 SPR20/1852 Jane Lawnicki Records Supervisor City of Northampton 210 Main Street, Room 4 Northampton, MA 01060-3148 Dear Ms. Lawnicki: I have received the petition of Andrew Quemere appealing the response of the City of Northampton (City). Specifically, on August 25, 2020, Mr. Quemere requested the following records be provided in electronic format: “[1.] All policies procedure, guidelines, and training records related to the Police department’s internal affairs investigations [2.] 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 incident) [3.] All data on the number of complaints and internal affairs investigations for the years 2010 to the present (if the records contain data for additional years, please do not remove the extra data) [5.] All data on the total number of complaints against each department.” Unsatisfied with the response, Mr. Quemere appealed and SPR20/1852 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 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

Jane Lawnicki SPR20/1852 Page 2 October 15, 2020 order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(iv) (written response must “identify any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends to withhold, and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based…”); 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). The City’s September 29th response In its September 29th response, the City stated that, “…attached [are] the records … requested. The margins have been adjusted so all data is now visible. I am unable to provide these documents in another format.” Current Appeal In his appeal petition, Mr. Quemere states that he “asked the City to provide data in the form of an Excel spreadsheet. Instead, the city provided them as a PDF and claims it is ‘unable’ to provide them in Excel format.” Please be advised that the relevant statute and regulation provide: “The records access officer shall, to the extent feasible, provide the public record in the requestor’s preferred format or, in the absence of a preferred format, in a searchable, machine readable format.” G. L. c. 66, § 6A(d). “…to the extent feasible, provide public records to a requester in electronic format unless the record is not available in electronic form or the requester does not have the ability to receive or access the records in electronic format and if feasible, in the requesters preferred format. In the absence of a preferred format, the records shall be provided in a searchable machine-readable form.” 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5)(d). Therefore, despite the City’s explanation, I find is unclear whether the City can provide the records in the preferred Excel spreadsheet format or, if not, in a searchable machine readable form. The City must clarify this. Conclusion Accordingly, the City 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

Jane Lawnicki SPR20/1852 Page 3 October 15, 2020 within 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