Mason Kortz v. Holyoke, City of - Police Department (SPR 20242879)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records November 1, 2024 SPR23/2879 Officer Caron L. Porter Holyoke Police Department Records Bureau 138 Appleton Street Holyoke, MA 01040 Dear Officer Porter: I have received the petition of Mason Kortz, Esq., on behalf of The Shoestring, appealing the response of the Holyoke 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 March 28, 2023, Attorney Kortz requested: [1] Any and all weapons inventory lists maintained by the [D]epartment, to include all less Lethal weapons, that are owned or authorized by the [D]epartment; and [2] Any and all logs of each officer’s qualifications and re-qualifications with firearms or less lethal weapons. Prior Appeal This request was the subject of a prior appeal. See SPR23/0691 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (April 20, 2023). In my April 20th determination, I found that it was unclear why the Department required that the requestor submit his request through the Department’s web portal and that the Department must provide the records in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law or identify an exemption that applies to withhold the records from disclosure. On July 31, 2024, the Department provided a response, providing records. Unsatisfied with the Department’s response, Attorney Kortz petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR24/2879, was opened as a result. 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

Officer Caron L. Porter SPR24/2879 Page 2 November 1, 2024 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. Att’y 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. The Department’s July 31st response In its July 31, 2024 response, the Department provided records and stated, “[a]ttached are the files that we provided via Gov Transfer back in May of 2023. Each officers qualification scores are uploaded and maintained by the Municipal Police Training Committee.” Current appeal In his petition, Attorney Kortz states, “The Shoestring has ample reason to believe that the Department has additional responsive records. In identical requests made by The Shoestring, other agencies have responded with significantly more complete records… Here, the Department has not stated whether there are other responsive records in its possession… And to the extent it does possess responsive records, the Department did not provide a written response citing exemptions… Instead, the Department produced limited, sparse records and included only the general quantities of assigned firearms models… The Department has also suggested, without any further explication, that our client ought to request qualification logs from a separate agency. However, the purported availability of records through another agency does not relieve the Department of its duty to produce the requested information… Finally, the Department has not stated that they do not have the requested qualification logs, nor have they contended that furnishing a copy of these records will unduly burden them…” Based on Attorney Kortz’s appeal, it is unclear if the Department possesses any additional records responsive to the request. The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(ii). Custodians are expected to use their superior knowledge of the records in their custody to assist requestors in obtaining the desired information. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5). The Department must clarify whether it possesses additional records responsive to the request.

Officer Caron L. Porter SPR24/2879 Page 3 November 1, 2024 Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Attorney Kortz with a response to his request in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of the response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Mason Kortz, Esq. Donovan Lee