Desi Powell v. Brockton, City of - Police Department (SPR 20210411)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 4, 2021 SPR21/0411 Sergeant Brenda Perez Brockton Police Department 7 Commercial Street Brockton, MA 02302 Dear Sgt. Perez: I have received the petition of Desi Powell appealing the nonresponse of the City of Brockton Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; See also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). In this matter, Ms. Powell requested police records concerning various identified individuals. In a follow-up letter to the Department dated December 16, 2020, Ms. Powell writes, “I had emailed you a few months back about a list of police reports request that I had made...I wanted to add two names to the records request.” 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 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 theNorfolk 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. Current Appeal In a letter to this office dated February 17, 2021, Ms. Powell writes, “…I have made several public records requests to the City of Boston, Plymouth County, and Brockton in an 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 Brenda Perez SPR21/0411 Page 2 March 4, 2021 attempt to gain access to public records. While I received an initial response from Brockton and Plymouth, I have not received any further communication from them since I then responded.” Subsequent to the intervention by a member of the Public Records Division, I learned that the Department provided Ms. Powell a response dated March 3, 2021. In its March 3rd letter to this office, the Department states, “[b]e advised this request is currently being worked on, I will advise Ms. Powell when complete.” Conclusion In light of the Department’s March 3rd letter, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. This office encourages the Department and Ms. Powell to communicate further to enable the Department to provide the requested public records. G. L. c 66, § 10(a)(i). If unresolved issues remain, Ms. Powell may appeal the substantive nature of the Department’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Desi Powell Ofc. Al J. Gazerro