Grace Ferguson v. Springfield, City of - Police Department (SPR 20221105)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records May 24, 2022 SPR22/1105 Stephen G. Roche, Esq. Third Associate City Solicitor City of Springfield 36 Court Street, Room 210 Springfield, MA 01103 Dear Attorney Roche: I have received the petition of Grace Ferguson of WBUR appealing the nonresponse of the Springfield Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On February 28, 2022, Ms. Ferguson requested “[d]ocuments showing the names of sworn officers within the Springfield Police Department who were terminated for misconduct, agreed to resign or retire to resolve misconduct accusations, or resigned or retired with a pending internal affairs investigation since January 1, 2010.” Claiming to not yet have received responsive records, Ms. Ferguson petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/1105, was opened as a result. Subsequently, I learned that a representative from the Department intends on providing Ms. Ferguson with a response. Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Ms. Ferguson with a response in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Regulations and this order within ten (10) business days. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Ms. Ferguson may appeal the substantive nature of the Department’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Grace Ferguson, WBUR 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