Blankenship, Shawn v. North Brookfield Police Department (SPR 20260515)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records February 18, 2026 SPR26/0515 Ryan P. Daley Chief of Police North Brookfield Police Department 55 School Street North Brookfield, MA 01535 Dear Chief Daley: On February 12, 2026, this office received your petition on behalf of the North Brookfield Police Department (Department) seeking an extension of time to produce records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, I understand that the Town furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor, Shawn Blankenship. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(2). On January 30, 2026, Mr. Blankenship requested five (5) categories of records concerning a March 18, 2024 incident; six (6) categories of records concerning a September 30, 2025 incident; six (6) categories of records concerning a November 8, 2025 incident; five (5) categories of records concerning two identified individuals for a period of July 2005 to January 30, 2026; seven (7) categories of records concerning a November 6, 2025 incident; and seventeen (17) additional categories of records. Petition for an Extension of Time to Produce Records Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from 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

Chief Ryan P. Daley SPR26/0515 Page 2 February 18, 2026 the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). If the Supervisor determines that the request is part of a series of contemporaneous requests that are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass, and the requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, the Supervisor may grant a longer extension or relieve the agency or municipality of its obligation to provide copies of the records sought. Id. The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requestor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(b). Request for Additional Time to Produce Responsive Records In its petition, the Department requests an extension and provides the following information in support of its request: [T]he North Brookfield Police Department is respectfully requesting an extension on the initial 10 day requirement. The request is due to a recent departure of the previous Chief and my appointment as the new Chief. With that said the former Chiefs IT access was canceled and his emails were archived. We have been working with our IT group to verify what records requests have already been fulfilled by searching the archived emails. Along with the above technology challenges we have been dealing with a staffing shortage. For the past few months we have been operating with five officers vs. the seven we should have. This shortage has placed a strain on the department and the officers. Due to the above issues I respectfully request an extension on the attached records requests. This extension will allow us to fully investigate the requests and process them in accordance with the Public Records Laws. In a telephone call between the Department and this office, the Department clarified that it was requesting a single extension of 30 business days. Based on the Department’s petition, I find that in light of the capacity of the Department to produce the request without the extension, the Department has established good cause to permit an extension of time. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c)(iii). The Department is granted an extension of 30 business days.

Chief Ryan P. Daley SPR26/0515 Page 3 February 18, 2026 Conclusion Accordingly, I find the Department has established good cause for a time extension of 30 business days as described above. Please note, Mr. Blankenship has the right to seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the appropriate superior court. See G. L. c. 66, §§ 10(c), 10(d)(iv)(4), 10A(c). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Shawn Blankenship