Mark Williams v. Arlington, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20220885)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 29, 2022 SPR22/0885 Chief Juliann Flaherty Arlington Police Department 112 Mystic Street Arlington, MA 02474 Dear Chief Flaherty: I have received the petition of Mark Williams appealing the response of the Arlington Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On April 12, 2022, Mr. Williams requested, “… email copies of any Arlington Police Dept. reports and/or incident reports for this calendar year that include my name and/or address of [identified address] … Road Arlington.” The Department responded on April 13, 2022. Unsatisfied with the Department’s response, Mr. Williams petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/0885, was opened as a 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 agency or municipality 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) (written response must “identify any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends to withhold, and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based…”); 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). 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

Chief Juliann Flaherty SPR22/0885 Page 2 April 29, 2022 The Department’s April 13th response In its April 13th response, the Department identified records pursuant to the request and advised that the Department produced “3 calls for service that are able to be released.” The Department denied access to other responsive records under Exemptions (a) and (f) of the Public Records Law. Status of the requestor; reason for the request Please note that the reason for which a requestor seeks access to or a copy of a public record does not afford any greater right of access to the requested information than other persons in the general public. The Public Records Law does not distinguish between requestors. Access to a record pursuant to the Public Records Law rests on the content of the record and not the circumstances of the requestor. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a); - se - e -al-so- -B-ou-g-a-s -v.- C-h-ie-f- o-f -P-ol-ic-e- o-f Lexington, 371 Mass. 59, 64 (1976). Therefore, Mr. Williams’s interest in obtaining the records shall have no bearing on the public nature of the record. Where Mr. Williams seeks the record for a court process, he may have a unique right of access to the records through statutory, regulatory, judicial or other applicable means. See Commonwealth v. Wanis, 426 Mass. 639 (1998). As such, Mr. Williams may wish to consider another means of seeking to obtain any existing responsive records. Current appeal In his response, Mr. Williams advises that, “I requested this report as I received a complaint from the Cambridge District Trial Court which was filed by the Arlington Police Department.” Mr. Williams further stated that the hearing date is May 11, 2022. In a conversation between a Department representative and a senior attorney, the Department confirmed that the matter is currently pending before the Cambridge District Court, Docket Number: 2252AC425 and that the proceedings are related to the requested records. Pending litigation 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2)(b) provides in pertinent part: the Supervisor may deny an appeal for, among other reasons if, in the opinion of the Supervisor: 1. the public records in question are the subjects of disputes in active litigation, administrative hearings or mediation. In light of the pending matter, I decline to opine on this matter at this time. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2)(b). It should be noted that a change in the status of this action could impact the applicability of 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2)(b).

Chief Juliann Flaherty SPR22/0885 Page 3 April 29, 2022 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Mark Williams