Matthew Rocheleau v. Charlton, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20210616)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 25, 2021 SPR21/0616 Lieutenant Dan Dowd Charlton Police Department 85 Masonic Home Road Charlton, MA 01507 Dear Lieutenant Dowd: I have received the petition of Matthew Rocheleau of the Boston Globe appealing the response of the Charlton Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On March 1, 2021, Mr. Rocheleau requested “Any/all criminal complaints, incident reports, and/or arrest reports involving [an identified individual] for incident(s) that occurred in July 2019, including but not limited to reports for Dudley District Court case 1964CR002384.” The Department provided responses on March 5, 2021 and March 11, 2021, denying access to responsive records pursuant to Exemptions (a) and (c) of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(a), (c). Unsatisfied with the Department’s responses, Mr. Rocheleau petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR21/0616, was opened as a result. It is my understanding that the Department intends on providing a subsequent response to Mr. Rocheleau. Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Rocheleau with said response, in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (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. Mr. Rocheleau 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: Matthew Rocheleau 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