Georgia Petropoulos v. Abington, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20222235)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records October 17, 2022 SPR22/2235 Chief David N. Del Papa Abington Police Department 215 Central Street Abington, MA 02351 Dear Chief Del Papa: I have received the petition of George Petropoulos, Esq. appealing the response of the Abington 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 20, 2022, Attorney Petropoulos, on behalf of his client, Randolph LaMattina, requested numerous documents regarding an “incident which occurred … on August 24, 2022” The Department responded on September 21, 2022. Unsatisfied with the Department’s response, Attorney Petropoulos petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/2235, 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); 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). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. 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

Chief David N. Del Papa SPR22/2235 Page 2 October 17, 2022 The Department’s September 21st response In its September 21, 2022 response, the Department cited Exemptions (a), (c) and (f) to withhold the requested records. Attorney Petropoulos included with his appeal a portion of the filings from the pending litigation at Brockton District Court. Specifically, Attorney Petropoulos cited the litigation, Abington Police Department v. Randolph LaMattina, Docket No. 2215AC256. 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). I further decline to opine on the applicability of Exemptions (a), (c) and (f) to the requested records. 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). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: George Petropoulos, Esq.