Shannon Dooling v. Worcester, City of - Police Department (SPR 20250541)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records March 11, 2025 SPR25/0541 Janice E. Thompson, Esq. Assistant City Solicitor Law Department City of Worcester 455 Main Street, Room 301 Worcester, MA 01608 Dear Attorney Thompson: I have received the petition of Shannon Dooling, of Boston University, appealing the response of the City of Worcester (City) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § l0A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On December 16, 2024, Ms. Dooling requested: ...copies of the following information for each and every unsolved homicide currently being investigated, managed, overseen, or for which any documentation or files are being maintained by the Worcester Police Department for a period of January 1, 2014 to the date of your receipt of this request, including, but not limited to investigations or cases which fall under G.L. c. 38 s. 4– . . . The information being requested for each such case or investigation includes but is not limited to the following: -Name of the decedent -Date of incident -Location of incident -Demographic information of the decedent, including age at time of death, race, ethnicity -Current status of the case/investigation - active/ongoing (currently pursuing investigative steps), cold (no investigative steps being pursued at this time). . . The City provided responses on December 16, 2024, January 17, 2025, January 28, 2025, and February 4, 2025. Unsatisfied with the City’s responses, Ms. Dooling petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/0541, 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 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

Janice E. Thompson, Esq. SPR25/0541 Page 2 March 11, 2025 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. 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. The City’s responses In its December 16, 2024 response, the City advised, “[y]our request will be processed by the Police Department to locate the document(s) you seek. If there are any necessary costs associated with your request, you will be contacted with a cost breakdown; payment is required prior to commencing the work required to fulfill your request. Please note that 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 M.G.L. c. 66, section 10(a)(ii).” In its January 17, 2025 response, the City asserted, “[d]ue to the broad scope of the request, additional time beyond the initial 10 day period is required to respond as permitted by statute. We will check with the Department regarding the status of this request and expect to provide you with an update next week.” In its January 28, 2025 response, the City stated, “[w]e have located cases that meet the criteria for your request for the date range 2014-present, and are currently compiling requested data in WPD’s possession responsive to your request. We hope to have the response to you by the end of this week.” In its February 4, 2025 response, the City advised, “[w]e are verifying whether there are additional more recent cases that need to be included in the response, and will provide that information shortly.” Timeliness in providing records G. L. c. 66, § 10(b) provides, in pertinent part, that if the magnitude or difficulty of the request unduly burdens the other responsibilities of the agency or municipality such that the agency or municipality cannot provide records within 10 business days, the agency or

Janice E. Thompson, Esq. SPR25/0541 Page 3 March 11, 2025 municipality must inform the requestor in writing within 10 business days. With respect to the timeframe to produce responsive records, the written response shall: identify a reasonable timeframe in which the agency or municipality shall produce the public records sought; provided, that for an agency, the timeframe shall not exceed 15 business days following the initial receipt of the request for public records and for a municipality the timeframe shall not exceed 25 business days following the initial receipt of the request for public records; and provided further, that the requestor may voluntarily agree to a response date beyond the timeframes set forth herein. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vi). Where Ms. Dooling’s request was submitted on December 16, 2024, and the City has not provided responsive records, I find the City has not met its burden in responding to the request in accordance with G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vi). Accordingly, I find the City must provide an estimated date as to when it expects to complete its review and provide the requested records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a) (records must be provided without unreasonable delay). To the extent possible, the City must provide responsive records on a rolling basis. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Ms. Dooling with a response, provided 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. Ms. Dooling may appeal the substantive nature of the City’s response within 90 calendar days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Shannon Dooling