Christian A. Williams v. Boston, City of - Police Department (SPR 20201951)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records October 27, 2020 SPR20/1951 Detective Sergeant John Boyle City of Boston Police Department Media Relations Department One Schroeder Plaza Boston, MA 02120 Dear Detective Sergeant Boyle: I have received the petition of Christian A. Williams, Committee for Public Counsel Services, appealing the response of the City of Boston Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Williams requested: “use of force report or use of defensive tactics reports filed regarding any and all events of Friday, May 29, 2020.” In an October 2, 2020 email response from the Department, Martha DeMaio informed Mr. Williams, “I have reached out to the various departments of the [Department] to include our Internal Affairs Division. Currently, there are no records responsive to your request.” As a result of the response, on this same day, Mr. Williams sent Ms. DeMaio an email asking for clarification. He asserts, “[i]s it the contention of the City of Boston that there were ZERO [use of force reports or use of defensive tactics reports] by the entire [Department] on May 29, 2020.” Unsatisfied with the Department’s October 2nd response, Mr. Williams petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal was opened. In his October 9, 2020 petition, Mr. Williams contends that there is video on social media as well as on local TV news outlets’ websites that he believes are instances of use of force incidents by the Department. Please be advised, the duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(ii). However, Ms. DeMaio’s response states, “[c]urrently, there are no records responsive to [Mr. Williams’] request.” It is unclear whether responsive records may have existed and were destroyed or whether responsive records have not existed. The Department must clarify this issue. 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

Sergeant John Boyle SPR20/1951 Page 2 October 27, 2020 Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Williams with a written response to the request, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations 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: Christian A. Williams Martha J. DeMaio