Benjamin Maddison v. Springfield, City of - Police Department (SPR 20220181)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 31, 2022 SPR22/0181 Stephen Roche, Esq. Third Associate City Solicitor City of Springfield 36 Court Street, Room 210 Springfield, MA 011103 Dear Attorney Roche: I have received the petition of Benjamin Maddison appealing the nonresponse of the City of Springfield (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On January 15, 2022, Mr. Maddison requested, “… full body worn camera footage from 10/10/2021… until 1am on Sunday 10/11/2021.” Claiming to not yet have received a response, Mr. Maddison petitioned this office, and this appeal, SPR22/0181, was opened as a result. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within 10 business days from receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)-(b). The response may contain, among other things, an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Subsequently, I learned that the City intends on providing a written response to Mr. Maddison. Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Maddison with a response in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order within ten business days. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Mr. Maddison may appeal the substantive nature of the City’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). One Ash burton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre • pre@sec.state.ma.us

Stephen Roche, Esq. SPR22/0181 Page 2 January 31, 2022 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Benjamin Maddison