Chris Infami v. Brookline, Town of - Fire Department (SPR 20211152)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records May 19, 2021 SPR21/1152 Christopher Tisbert Clerk’s Office Town of Brookline 333 Washington Street Brookline, MA 02445 Dear Mr. Tisbert: I have received the petition of Chris Infami appealing the response of the Town of Brookline (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On May 1, 2021, Chris Infami requested, “… all calls for service reports, all incident reports, all fire reports, all medical emergency reports, all 911 audio files/calls, all 911 documents, all general calls and all documents pertaining to [an identified address] … pertaining to the month of April.” The Town responded on May 4, 2021. Unsatisfied with the response, the requestor appealed and SPR21/1152 was opened as result. 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 the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). The Town’s May 4th response In its May 4th response, the Town stated, “[i]t seems that you have outstanding balances from prior FOIA requests. Due to this fact, we are unable to honor your request.” 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

Christopher Tisbert SPR21/1152 Page 2 May 19, 2021 Current Appeal In the appeal, the requestor stated, “[p]lease obtain the public records for me pertaining to this denial of public records.” Waiver of fees Please be advised the Supervisor may not mandate that a records access officer waive fees assessed for complying with a public records request. Under the Public Records Law, the records access officer may waive or reduce the amount of any fee charged under this subsection upon a showing that disclosure of a requested record is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requestor, or upon a showing that the requestor lacks the financial ability to pay the full amount of the reasonable fee. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(v); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2)(k). In a conversation between the Town and a staff attorney of the Public Records Division, the Town confirmed that it has received no payment for the requested records. Conclusion If there are any remaining issues Chris Infami may file a further appeal to address those issues. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Chris Infami