Stephen P. Hayes v. Scituate, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20210851)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 20, 2021 SPR21/0851 Lindsey DeSimone Records Clerk Scituate Police Department 800 Chief Justice Cushing Highway Scituate, MA 02066 Dear Ms. DeSimone: I have received the petition of Stephen P. Hayes appealing the response of the Scituate 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 8, 2021, Mr. Hayes requested a named police officer’s “report or reports” relating to a particular incident report that he already possesses. The Department responded on March 16, 2021, stating that it “is going through a conversion to put all old records in to a new system. During this period [the Department does] not have access to any information before 2008. Once this conversion is complete [the Department] will be able to fulfill [the] request.” Unsatisfied with the Department’s response, Mr. Hayes appealed, and this case was opened as a result. Current Appeal In his appeal petition, Mr. Hayes states that he “would appreciate a positive deadline to receive [the named officer’s] report as soon as possible.” Records in Existence 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). Subsequent to the intervention by a staff attorney of the Public Records Division, I learned that the Department does not possess additional records responsive to Mr. Hayes’ request. In a letter to this office on April 9, 2021, the Department reiterated technical issues it is 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

Lindsey DeSimone SPR21/0851 Page 2 April 20, 2021 experiencing with the electronic storage of its records prior to 2008. However, the Department further explained: while looking into the particular record being requested, the same record has been previously issued to Mr. Hayes [in April 2009 and again on July 27, 2020]. In reviewing the records, Mr. Hayes references/highlights a sentence in the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section’s report that states “Please refer to [the named police officer and another officer’s] reports for witness statements and any other further information regarding this collision”. The Scituate Police Department’s record on this incident is Incident Report 122613 which contains [the other officer’s] report as well as supplemental narratives by [two additional officers]. If there was a report done at the time by [the named officer], it would have been contained in the same incident report in the same format/fashion as the other two supplemental narratives. The reference by Massachusetts State Police was likely a result of the investigating Trooper obtaining the names of Scituate’s reporting Officer as well as the supervisor (in this particular case [the named police officer]) however, no report was written by him. The Department goes on to confirm “[n]othing in the record requested has been changed/updated since the last time it was provided” and “[n]o specific report done by [the named police officer] relative to Incident 122613 exists.” Conclusion Where the Department has confirmed that it provided Mr. Hayes with all responsive records in its possession, and does not possess additional records responsive to his request, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Alison Steverman, Deputy Chief of Police Stephen P. Hayes