Gerhardson, Jonathan v. Lynn, City of - Police Department (SPR 20261308)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records April 17, 2026 SPR26/1308 Diane Jones Head Clerk Lynn Police Department 300 Washington Street Lynn, MA 01902 Dear Ms. Jones: I have received the petition of Jonathan Gerhardson appealing the response of the Lynn 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 April 6, 2026, Mr. Gerhardson requested: …electronic copies of the Lynn Police Department’s daily public police logs, specifically including both the complete arrest logs and the complete incident logs, from January 1, 2025, to the date this request is processed. Please note that this request explicitly encompasses the full, unedited exports of these logs. I am requesting all data fields, columns, and information associated with these records, including but not limited to:  Date and time of the incident/arrest  Location/address of the incident  Nature of the complaint, incident, or offense  Names and addresses of adults arrested  Specific charges  Names of responding officers  Any public narrative descriptions or case statuses[.] The Department responded on April 7, 2026, providing redacted responsive records and seeking clarification regarding specific portions of the request. Subsequently on April 7, 2026, Mr. Gerhardson submitted a modified request for “only 138 [specified] days rather than every day since Jan 1 2025,” seeking the following records: 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

Diane Jones SPR26/1308 Page 2 April 17, 2026 Arrest logs containing:  Date  Name of adult arrestee  Age of adult arrestee (or DOB)  Charge[.] The Department further responded on April 10, 2026. Unsatisfied with the Department’s responses, Mr. Gerhardson petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR26/1308, was opened as a result. While this appeal was pending, the Department provided an additional response on April 10, 2026. 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. 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. 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 10th Responses In its first April 10, 2026 response to the modified request, the Department provided a fee estimate of $250.00 to produce the responsive records. In its second April 10, 2026 response, the Department expanded upon its fee estimate and described its prospective search, review, segregation, and redaction of responsive records. Current Appeal In his appeal petition, Mr. Gerhardson argued: [The Department] first denied my request, and then after asking me to narrow the scope quoted me a fee of $250, claiming that the non-responsive records they’d already provided took them two hours to export from a spreadsheet… Per. M.G.L.

Diane Jones SPR26/1308 Page 3 April 17, 2026 c41 s98F Lynn police are required to provide access to the records I seek without charge, and additionally, to maintain any exempt records in a separate log file. Thus, if they are in compliance with the law there should be nothing to segregate, and they should not be allowed to charge me a fee. In a subsequent email to the Department and this office on April 10, 2026, in reply to the Department’s second April 10, 2026 response, Mr. Gerhardson expanded upon his allegations that the Department is in violation of G. L. c. 41 § 98F, and stated, “[m]y claim is that the fact that Lynn does not have these records immediately available is itself a violation of records laws.” In addition, Mr. Gerhardson stated, “I am withdrawing my narrowed time frame and seeking these records for each day since January 1, 2025.” Issues Outside the Authority of This Office Please be advised that the Office of the Supervisor of Records is statutorily empowered with the authority to determine the public record status of government records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10. Further, in compliance with the Public Records Law, the Supervisor of Records may only issue determinations where a violation of G. L. c. 66, § 10 has been alleged. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A(a). To the extent Mr. Gerhardson’s appeal alleges violations of the Department’s obligations in keeping and maintaining certain daily logs under G. L. c. 41 § 98F, I find that the these issues are outside the jurisdiction of this office. Given that such issues do not fall within the authority of this office, I am unable to address such issues in this determination. Additionally, where Mr. Gerhardson submitted a further modification of his request on April 10, 2026, and his appeal pertains to the preceding April 10th responses from the Department, I find that no violation of G. L. c. 66, § 10 has been asserted by Mr. Gerhardson in the appeal petition, and I am unable to issue a determination at this time. Conclusion Accordingly, I will consider this administrative appeal closed. If issues remain once Mr. Gerhardson receives the response to his April 10, 2026 modified request, or if the Department fails to provide a response within the statutory timeframe, Mr. Gerhardson may file an appeal within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

Diane Jones SPR26/1308 Page 4 April 17, 2026 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Jonathan Gerhardson Lt. Michael Gorman