Open Warrants

Dear Department of Criminal Justice Information Services,

Thank you in advance for your time and assistance. Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c.66, §10, I hereby request the following records:

1. An electronic copy of any and all open warrants in the Warrant Management System database as of the date this request is fulfilled. This request includes but is not limited to the database fields containing the following information: warrant unique identification number; date warrant was initially issued; offense or offenses for which the warrant was issued; offender's name, race and gender; type(s) of charge(s), attempt(s) to serve warrant; agency or agencies that attempted to serve warrant; dates of attempt(s) to serve warrant; agency or agencies that issued warrant; any and all notes fields; and any and all additional fields in the Warrant Management System not included in this list.

2. A copy of the data dictionary or other such document describing the contents of each field in the Warrant Management System.

3. Any and all communication, including but not limited to emails, letters, faxes and memos, that refers to a backlog in the Warrant Management System.

4. Any and all communication, including but not limited to emails, letters, faxes and memos, that refers to an individual who was/is/believed to be involved in a crime and who has/had one or more outstanding warrants.

If you believe any of these fields are exempt from disclosure, I ask that you please redact such fields, noting the portion of the law on which you rely, and disclose the rest.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived, as this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested data and documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the news items/articles published by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting and its partner, New England Cable News (NECN). The requested data and documents will be processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents. I ask that you please provide the Warrant Management System in delimited text file or similar database format.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, including questions about the scope of the request or the format of responsive records.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Brooke Williams
Reporter, NECIR
202-615-3551
www.reporterbrooke.org

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on May 29, 2015. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.