Joshua Dankoff v. Everett, City of - Police Department (SPR 20220807)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 20, 2022 SPR22/0807 Captain Scott Stallbaum Everett Police Department 45 Elm Street Everett, MA 02149 Dear Captain Stallbaum: I have received the petition of Joshua Dankoff appealing the response of the Everett Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On September 21, 2021, Mr. Dankoff requested numerous records concerning gang database, school policing, stop and frisk data for a certain period of time. The Department responded on February 3, 2022. Unsatisfied with the response, Mr. Dankoff petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/0807, was opened as a result. Fees - Municipalities If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(i). Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first (two) 2 hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested unless the municipality has 20,000 people or less. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii). Where appropriate, municipalities may include as part of the fee an hourly rate equal to or less than the hourly rate attributed to the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. Id. However, municipalities may charge more than $25 per how if such rate is approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). 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

Captain Scott Stallbaum SPR22/0807 Page 2 April 20, 2022 A fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). Petitions relating to fees must be submitted to the Supervisor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(g). Current appeal In his appeal, Mr. Dankoff asserted, “… the date of our initial request was September 21, 2021, not January 20, 2022. (Please see attached.) We sent reminder messages every 2 weeks by fax, as shown on the attached, the most recent of which was January 20, 2022. I therefore kindly ask you to waive the fee for compiling the records request because you did not respond to our initial request within ten business days.” Fees - Timeliness of response If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. However, it is unclear whether the Department provided Mr. Dankoff with a written response within ten (10) business days from his request dated September 21, 2021. The Department is advised that under the Public Records Law, “[a] records access officer shall not charge a fee for a public record unless the records access officer responded to the requestor within 10 business days in compliance with G. L. c. 66, § 10(e) and 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2)(c). I find that the Department must provide a response that demonstrates that it responded within 10 business days following receipt of Mr. Dankoff’s request. Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Dankoff with a response to the request, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within 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. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Joshua Dankoff