David Maron v. Natick, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20251004)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records April 15, 2025 SPR25/1004 Lieutenant Leo Fitzpatrick Records Access Officer Natick Police Department 20 East Central Street Natick, MA 01760 Dear Lieutenant Fitzpatrick: I have received the petition of David Maron, of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, appealing the response of the Natick 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 31, 2025, Mr. Maron sought the following records for the period of January 1, 2015 to present: [1] A list of all civil suits filed against [the Department] or an employee thereof, for actions or omissions committed in the course of employment, containing the following information: [a] Case caption[;] [b] Docket number[;] [c] Final disposition[;] [d] Amount of money, if any, paid by the [Department] or involved officer pursuant to a verdict of settlement. [2] A list of officers who have been criminally prosecuted, containing the officer’s full name and [a] case docket number[;] [3] Any settlement agreements[;] [4] Any document, ledger, report, list, or dockets, which summarizes civil lawsuits for actions or omissions committed in the course of employment and/or criminal prosecutions against the [Department] or an employee thereof. The Department provided a response on April 8, 2025. Unsatisfied with the Department’s response, Mr. Maron petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/1004, 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

Lieutenant Leo Fitzpatrick SPR25/1004 Page 2 April 15, 2025 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. See 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. See 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 Department’s April 8th Response In its April 8, 2025 response, the Department stated, “this message was forwarded to the Chief’s office, and the response to your request will be sent from there.” Current Appeal In his April 11, 2025 petition to this office, Mr. Maron stated, “[w]e filed our initial public records request [on] January 31, 2025, and as of today have not received any responsive records from Natick.” 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 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,

Lieutenant Leo Fitzpatrick SPR25/1004 Page 3 April 15, 2025 that the requestor may voluntarily agree to a response date beyond the timeframes set forth herein. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vi). Where Mr. Maron submitted his request on January 31, 2025, and the Department has not provided the responsive records, I find the Department has not met its burden in responding to the request in accordance with G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vi). Consequently, I find the Department must provide an estimated date as to when it intends to complete its review and provide the responsive records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a) (records must be provided without unreasonable delay). To the extent possible, the Department must provide responsive records on a rolling basis. Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Maron with a response to the request, 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. Mr. Maron may appeal the substantive nature of the Department’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: David Maron