David Webb v. Worcester, City of (SPR 20253513)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records December 11, 2025 SPR25/3513 Alexandra H. Kalkounis, Esq. City Solicitor City of Worcester 455 Main Street Worcester, MA 01609 Dear Attorney Kalkounis: 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 September 27, 2025, Mr. Webb requested, “‘[a]ll reports and BWC from officers involved in the standoff where a dog was sicced on a mentally ill man involved in the robbery of Santander 8-18-23’ where ‘a team of city police officers surrounded a man who had taken refuge at the base of a smokestack behind the Denholm Building’ as described by the T&G [sic].” Mr. Webb previously made the same request of the City on August 20, 2025 and subsequently on October 24, 2025. The City responded on September 27, October 14, and November 26, 2025 assigning the request reference number P077632-092725 and providing a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the responses, Mr. Webb petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/3513, was opened as a result. Fee Estimates – Municipalities 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. 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 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

Alexandra H. Kalkounis, Esq. SPR25/3513 Page 2 December 11, 2025 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 of 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 the 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 City’s October 14th and November 26th Responses In its October 14, 2025 response, the City stated, “[t]he City requires additional time, up to 15 business days as provided by statute, to complete the work associated with your request.” In its November 26, 2025 response, the City provided a fee estimate of $612.50 and stated the following: The City located approximately 531 minutes of responsive Born-Worn Camera (BWC) footage. It is required by law as noted below to review all BWC footage prior to disclosure and to perform necessary redactions including redaction required by law through the process outlined below. Note the City’s fee estimate only includes fees for time spent segregating and reacting a requested record when such segregation or redaction is required by law. All records extracted from the Police Department Records Management System (RMS) including CAD and incident reports, and all Police Department BWC footage, are subject to the provisions of Massachusetts General Law Chapter 6 Sections 168-172… Material reviewed will be redacted or withheld under exemption (a) as required by law including but not limited to the following statutes: M.G.L. c. 93H and 940 C.M.R 27.00 personal information of residents of the Commonwealth, including social security numbers and driver’s license numbers. M.G.L. c. 66, § 10B, personal information including home address, phone number, email address of victims of crime. … At a minimum, completion of the initial search, review, and redaction process outlined above requires 3 minutes of labor per one minute of footage, not including finalization of the record, and preparation of the written response. The hourly rate of the lowest paid employees capable of performing the search for the records, performing all tasks associated with this request, and completing review

Alexandra H. Kalkounis, Esq. SPR25/3513 Page 3 December 11, 2025 and redaction exceeds $25.00 per hour. The City has reduced the hourly labor charges to $25.00 per hour. The City may not charge for the first two hours of labor required to fulfill this request. The estimated costs have been calculated as set forth below. 531 minutes BWC footage x 3 minutes labor per minute of footage = 1593 minutes (26.5 hours) 26.5 hours @ $25.00 per hour = $662.50 Minus 2 hours (no charge) @ $25.00 per hour = -$50.00 Total fee: $612.50 Current Appeal In his November 26, 2025 appeal, Mr. Webb states, “I’m appealing the reasonableness of the fee estimate, as the city did not provide it within a reasonable timeframe or in accordance with the public records law.” 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).” Where Mr. Webb submitted a public records request on September 27th and the City provided a fee estimate on November 26th, I find it is unclear whether the City complied with G. L. c. 66, § 10(e). Specifically, 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 (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. Webb may appeal the substantive nature of the City’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

Alexandra H. Kalkounis, Esq. SPR25/3513 Page 4 December 11, 2025 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: David Webb