Andrew Quemere v. Taunton, City of - Police Department (SPR 20202053)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records November 5, 2020 SPR20/2053 Lt. Eric P. Nichols Records Access Officer Administrative Division Taunton Police Department 23 Summer Street Taunton, MA 02780 Dear Lt. Nichols: I have received the petition of Andrew Quemere appealing the response of the Taunton 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. Quemere requested several categories of records pertaining to Department use-of-force incidents. The Department responded on August 27, 2020, providing records responsive to portions of the request, and indicating that it does not possess records responsive to others. Previous Appeal This request has been the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR20/1790 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (October 7, 2020). In my October 7th determination, I found that the Department had not met its burden in responding to the request, and ordered the Department to provide a new response. The Department responded on October 7, 2020. Unsatisfied with the Department’s response, Mr. Quemere petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR20/1790, was opened as a result. Current Appeal In his initial appeal petition, Mr. Quemere states that “many of the documents were provided as scans that lack functions of the original records, such as searchable text.” In a September 23, 2020 email, the Department states that it “do[es] not maintain the records in a searchable format.” In a September 29, 2020 email, the Department explains that the records include “reports submitted to the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS)” and “hard copies of the electronic submission completed via the EOPSS reporting portal.” The Department states that “[i]n none of these reporting forms is information, or specifically, datum 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

Lt. Eric Nichols SPR20/2053 Page 2 November 5, 2020 collected, segregated or otherwise stored in a retrievable or searchable format by this department.” In an October 7, 2020 response, the Department states that it has “fulfilled its obligations under the law” and asserts that “[t]he law does not require the department to create a new record or argument [sic] a record to fulfill the request.” Please be advised that pursuant to the Public Records Law, “[t]he 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.” See G. L. c. 66, § 6A(d) (emphasis added). The Access Regulations provide that “records shall be provided in a searchable machine-readable form.” 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5)(d) (emphasis added). While the Department is not required to create new records in response to a request, providing records in searchable, machine-readable form does not require creation of a new record. See 950 C.M.R. 32.07(f) (furnishing a segregable portion of a record, extract of existing data deemed not to constitute creation of a new record). Therefore, where the Department has not provided records in a searchable format, I find that it has not met its burden in responding to this request. I understand that a staff attorney of the Public Records Division attempted to contact you regarding this appeal but was unable to reach you prior to the issuance of this determination. Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide a response to Mr. Quemere, 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. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Andrew Quemere