Andrew Quemere v. Arlington, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20201933)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records October 21, 2020 SPR20/1933 Suzanne Santorelli Senior Records Clerk/Firearms Licensing Coordinator Arlington Police Department 112 Mystic Street Arlington, MA 02474 Dear Ms. Santorelli: I have received the petition of Andrew Quemere appealing the response of the Arlington 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 September 4, 2020, Mr. Quemere requested five categories of records: • “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 2009 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 2009 to the present (if the records contain data for additional years, please do not remove the extra data) • All data on the total number of use-of-force incidents involving each department employee.” 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). 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

Suzanne Santorelli SPR20/1933 Page 2 October 21, 2020 It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(iv); 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). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. Current Appeal In his appeal, Mr. Quemere asserts “[the Supervisor of Records] state[s] that the department told your office that ‘it provided all responsive documents to the request. ... [T]he only records the Department indicates are being withheld are completed use of force incidents, which are not responsive to the request.’ In its response to me, the department only identified these records as ‘the actual use of force incidents.’ If these ‘use of force incidents’ are part of a database, they are indeed responsive to my request. It is not clear from the department's response or SPR20/1756 whether these records are part of a database. Please order the department to clarify.” Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, a staff attorney of the Public Records Division reached out to the Department to clarify the documents they indicated they are withholding in their September 21, 2020, response are “specific use-of-force incidents.” The Department confirmed “the actual use of force incidents” identified in their September 21st response which they are withholding, are “specific use-of-force incidents.” In his request, Mr. Quemere states “…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.” The Department confirmed these specific use-of-force incident documents at issue are not responsive to the request. If Mr. Quemere would like to obtain copies of specific use-of-force incidents, Mr. Quemere is advised that he should make a separate public records request to the Department indicating as such.

Suzanne Santorelli SPR20/1933 Page 3 October 21, 2020 Conclusion Accordingly, whereas the Department has confirmed they are not withholding records responsive to Mr. Quemere’s request, I will consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Andrew Quemere