David Webb v. Worcester, City of - Law Department (SPR 20251035)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records April 25, 2025 SPR25/1035 Janice E. Thompson, Esq. Assistant City Solicitor Worcester Law Department 455 Main Street, Room 301 Worcester, MA 01608 Dear Attorney Thompson: I have received the petition of David Webb appealing the response of the City of Worcester (City) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On March 31, 2025, Mr. Webb sought, in nine separate requests, police reports and body-worn camera footage relating to nine identified incidents which occurred between March 14 and 26, 2025. The City responded on April 15, 2025. Unsatisfied with the City’s response, Mr. Webb petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/1035, was opened as a result. Fee Estimates – Municipalities A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(i). Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first (two) 2 hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested unless the municipality has 20,000 people or less. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii). Where appropriate, municipalities may include as part of the fee an hourly rate equal to or less than the hourly rate attributed to the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. Id. However, municipalities may charge more than $25 per hour if such rate is approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). 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. SPR25/1035 Page 2 April 25, 2025 A fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The City’s April 15th Response In its April 15, 2025 response, the City assessed a fee of $1,890.25 to provide Mr. Webb with 38 pages of responsive records and 1,527 minutes of responsive body-worn camera footage. The City estimated that providing the responsive records would require 77.61 hours of staff time, at a rate of $25.00 per hour. The City detailed its estimate as follows: It is necessary to manually review and redact all written records prior to disclosure to locate any redaction and withholding required by law, and additionally review all BWC footage prior to disclosure and to perform necessary redactions including redaction required by law through the process outlined below. Please note the police records you requested, including written records, include sensitive privacy information and information that Massachusetts General Law prohibits from disclosure, including but not limited to social security number information (for example), as well as information implicating privacy interests of private individuals. Providing written narratives requires locating the responsive reports, extracting the reports from the Records Management System, and reviewing each document to locate information not subject to disclosure. Redactions are then applied to the document; a second review is performed prior to disclosure to confirm that the document has been properly redacted. On average, this process requires 2 minutes of labor per page, not including finalization of the record and preparation of the written response. Properly responding to requests for BWC video(s) is a labor-intensive endeavor. The process requires locating the requested video(s), reviewing each video at least twice to locate redactions required pursuant to M.G.L. Chapter 4, Section 7(26) and applicable statutes, and then making necessary edits to the BWC footage … At a minimum, completion of the initial search, review, and redaction process for BWC outlined above requires 3 minutes of labor per one minute of footage, not including finalization of the record, and preparation of the written response. In its response, the City confirmed that the lowest-paid employee with the skill necessary to respond to the request was compensated at a rate greater than $25.00 per hour. The City further stated that it was not charging a fee for the first two hours of labor required to respond to the requests.

Janice E. Thompson, Esq. SPR25/1035 Page 3 April 25, 2025 G. L. c. 66, § 10(e) G. L. c. 66, § 10(e) provides that “[a] records access officer shall not charge a fee for a public record unless the records access officer responded to the requestor within 10 business days under subsection (b).” In this case, where Mr. Webb submitted his public records requests on March 31, 2025, and it appears the City provided a fee estimate on April 15, 2025, I find it is unclear whether the City complied with G. L. c. 66, § 10(e). Specifically, in order to assess fees, the City must demonstrate whether it provided a response to Mr. Webb’s request under G. L. c. 66, § 10(b) within 10 business days of receipt of the request. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Webb with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within ten 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. Webb may appeal the substantive nature of the City’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: David Webb Michael Vigneux