George and Jen Burden v. Lunenburg, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20250093)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records January 23, 2025 SPR24/0093 Lieutenant Jeffrey M. Thibodeau Records Access Officer Lunenburg Police Department 655 Massachusetts Avenue Lunenburg, MA 01462 Dear Lieutenant Thibodeau: I have received the petition of George Burden appealing the response of the Lunenburg 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 January 8, 2025, Mr. Burden requested, “all documents related to incident report 24LUN-555-OF and the report itself.” The Department responded on January 10, 2025, providing records. Unsatisfied with the response, Mr. Burden petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/0093, 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. 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. 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. 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

Lieutenant Jeffrey M. Thibodeau SPR24/0093 Page 2 January 23, 2025 The Department’s January 10th Response In its January 10, 2024 response, the Department provided records. Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, in an email to this office on January 12, 2025, the Department stated, “[t]he redacted information in the report is represented by the asterisk symbol… Any redacted words or numbers will have the symbol ‘***’ in their place. I feel this is self-explanatory in the report itself. So, for instance, personal information redacted i.e SSN is represented by *********. All redacted information in the person’s history or officer’s narratives will be represented by the asterisks in place of the words or numbers.” Current Appeal In his appeal, Mr. Burden states, “[t]he basis for the request of an appeal is that [the Department] has not provided a reason for the redaction or identified which portions of report 24LUN-555-OF were redacted.” Burden of specificity Under the Public Records Law, the burden shall be upon the custodian to prove with specificity the exemption which applies. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(iv); see also Globe Newspaper Co. v. Police Comm’r, 419 Mass. 852, 857 (1995); Flatley, 419 Mass. at 511. The Department did not meet its burden of demonstrating how the redacted information is exempt from disclosure under the Public Records Law. Based on the Department’s response, it is unclear what exemption under the Public Records Law the Department is claiming to redact information in the requested records. It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold or redact 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 is based…”); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3). Consequently, I find the Department must identify an exemption and explain with specificity how the exemption applies to redact the records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b). Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Burden with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within 10 business days. A copy of the 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. Mr. Burden may appeal the substantive nature of the Department’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

Lieutenant Jeffrey M. Thibodeau SPR24/0093 Page 3 January 23, 2025 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: George Burden