FwcInvestigations X v. Norwood, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20251496)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records June 6, 2025 SPR25/1496 Officer Kevin Riley Assistant Records Clerk Norwood Police Department 137 Nahatan Street Norwell, MA 02062 Dear Officer Riley: I have received the petition of FwcInvestigations (requestor) appealing the response of the Norwood 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 May 22, 2025, the requestor sought “…arrest logs maintained by the Norwood Police Department for the period from January 1, 2025 (01/01/2025) to May 22, 2025 (05/22/2025).” Specifically, the requestor sought the following details for each arrest: [1] Name of arrestee [2] Date and time of arrest [3] General location of arrest (block-level or street) [4] Charges filed [5] Arresting officer (Officer ID or badge number is acceptable) [6] Associated incident or report number The Department responded on May 27, 2025 and May 28, 2025, providing a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the Department’s responses, the requestor petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/1496, was opened as a result. While this appeal was pending, the Department provided this office with a supplemental response on May 30, 2025. 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). 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 Kevin Riley SPR25/1496 Page 2 June 6, 2025 Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first 2 (two) 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). 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 Department’s May 27th, May 28th and May 30th Responses In its May 27, 2025 response, the Department assessed a fee of $100.00 to provide the requestor with the responsive records. In support of the fee estimate, the Department stated as follows: As there are numerous arrests and redactions required, it will take 6 hours of manpower to produce these records. The first 2 hours there is no charge. After that there is a $25 dollar fee per hour. So the last 4 hours will result in a $100 dollar fee payable to the Town of Norwood with a bank check or money order. The check would need to be received first in order to go forward. In reply to the Department on May 27, 2025, the requestor stated, “I am only requesting entries that are publicly disclosable and not exempt under CORI,” and offered to modify the scope of the request to exclude arrests involving the following: [1] Sex-related offenses [2] Domestic or family-related incidents [3] Juvenile arrests [4] Mental health transports or protective custody cases In its May 28, 2025 response, the Department stated, “[t]hose reports were not going to be released due to exemptions. The fee would remain the same.” In its supplemental response on May 30, 2025, the Department stated, “[t]he format in which we can reproduce arrest logs includes the arrest that the requestor removed from his original request. Therefore all the documents have to be looked through and redacted. (Over 50 Pages) I feel that the time quoted is accurate to ensure we do not release information that is exempt.”

Officer Kevin Riley SPR25/1496 Page 3 June 6, 2025 Current Appeal In its appeal petition, the requestor objects to the fee estimate and states, “[a]rrest log information is presumptively public… I respectfully request your office order the Department to release the legally disclosable public portions of the arrest log or cite specific exemption(s) being relied upon.” Fee Waivers G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(v) provides the following with respect to waiving a fee for the production of responsive records: the records access officer may waive or reduce the amount of any fee charged under this subsection upon a showing that disclosure of a requested record is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requestor, or upon a showing that the requestor lacks the financial ability to pay the full amount of the reasonable fee. Please be advised, although the Supervisor may encourage fees to be waived, the Supervisor may not mandate that a records access officer waive fees assessed for complying with a public records request; rather, as described above, the records access officer may waive or reduce the amount of any fee upon a showing of various factors. See G. L. c. 66, § 10 (d)(v); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2)(k). Reasonableness of the Fee Estimate Although the Department states that it would take 6 hours to produce and redact the responsive records, it is unclear why the Department requires this much time. The Department must advise how much time is needed to search and how much time is needed to segregate and/or redact under the law. Additionally, if redactions are required, I find the Department must provide information about whether the responsive records contain information that is required by law to be segregated or redacted, as well as the applicable statutes, if any. Further, although the Department states it possesses over 50 pages of responsive documents, it is uncertain how many minutes per page the Department requires to segregate or redact the records. The Department’s fee estimate also lacks confirmation that the rate of $25 per hour is the lowest paid employee who is capable of performing the task(s). Accordingly, the Department must provide further details regarding its fee estimate. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). Pursuant to the Public Records Law, a fee may 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)(ii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). Consequently, the Department must also clarify whether its fee estimate includes time for segregation or redaction not required by law.

Officer Kevin Riley SPR25/1496 Page 4 June 6, 2025 For the reasons discussed above, I find the Department must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee estimate of $100.00 is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). This office encourages the requestor and the Department to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vii) (a municipality shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the municipality to produce the records sought more efficiently and affordably). Any revision to the request would result in the requirement to issue a revised fee estimate. Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide the requestor 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. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: FwcInvestigations