Pineiro, Hector v. Worcester, City of (SPR 20261519)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records April 29, 2026 SPR26/1519 Michael Manning Records Access Officer City of Worcester 455 Main Street Worcester, MA 01608 Dear Mr. Manning: On April 28, 2026, this office received your petition on behalf of the City of Worcester (City) seeking an extension of time to produce records. 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, it is my understanding that the City furnished a copy of the petition to the requestor, Hector Pineiro, Esq. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L.c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(2). In a request dated March 17, 2026, and received on March 24, 2026, Attorney Pineiro requested multiple categories of records relating to an identified individual. Petition for an Extension of Time 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 the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. 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

Michael Manning SPR26/1519 Page 2 April 29, 2026 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) must provide an initial response to a requestor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). Request for Additional Time to Produce Records In its petition, the City requests “an extension of twenty-five additional business days…” In support of its request the City provides the following information: The request seeks an extensive amount of documentation related to the incident in question. To fulfill this request, the City must not only search and compile responsive records that originate from multiple divisions that work within the Worcester Police Department but also obtain records from its Emergency Communications Department. Further, item five of Attorney Pineiro’s request seeks body-worn camera footage from the incident in question, only a small subset of City employees have the requisite knowledge and technological expertise to redact the responsive body worn camera footage. Today, April 22, 2026, the City provided Attorney Pineiro with an initial production of responsive records including records responsive to items 2, 4, 8, 14 through 19, 25 and 26 of the request. The City anticipates making redactions to the remaining outstanding responsive records as required by law pursuant to Exemption (a) of the Public Records Law but also making redactions to protect the identities of voluntary witnesses. Such redactions would be made under Exemption (f) of the Public Records Law. Further since receiving Attorney Pineiro’s request on March 24, 2026, the City has received 1,336 additional public records requests. It is likely that a substantial portion of these additional requests may also require review and redaction by the City’s Law Department. Further it is probable that many of these additional requests will require similar cooperation between the City’s Law Department and the Worcester Police Department to search for, compile, segregate, redact and produce responsive records that the request that is the subject of this petition does. In light of the need to collect and examine the records, and the capacity of the City to produce the records without an extension, the City has established good cause to permit an extension of time. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c)(i)-(iii). The City is granted an extension of 25 business days.

Michael Manning SPR26/1519 Page 3 April 29, 2026 Conclusion Accordingly, I find that the City has established good cause for a time extension of 25 business days as described above. Please note, Attorney Pineiro 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: Hector Pineiro