Police data collection 2022

City of Springfield, MA

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Your record request #24-2299 has been submitted successfully.

Dear Public Records Requester:

The City of Springfield is in receipt of your public records request.

Your request will be forwarded to the appropriate department[s] and a response will be sent to you as soon as we have obtained and reviewed any document[s] that may be responsive to your request. Pursuant to M.G.L. ch. 66, §10(b), the City has ten [10] business days to respond to your request.

Should you be aggrieved by this response, you may appeal to the Supervisor of Records at the Massachusetts Secretary of State's Office pursuant to 950 C.M.R. 32.00 and M.G.L. ch. 66, §10A(a). A copy of your request letter or email should be included with your appeal and mailed to:

Supervisor of Records

One Ashburton Place, Room 1719

Boston, MA 02108

You also have the right to seek judicial review of an unfavorable decision by commencing a civil action in the Superior Court under M.G.L. ch. 66, §10A(a). You can monitor the progress of your request at the link below. An email will be sent to you once your request has been completed.

Thank you for using the City of Springfield's Public Record Request Portal.

Sincerely,

Justin P. Morin

Public Records Coordinator

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City of Springfield, MA

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Documents have been released for record request #24-2299 along with the following message:

Dear Samuel Sinyangwe:

The City of Springfield is in receipt of your public records request. You requested:

“To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

All use-of-force reports reported in 2022.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, and is not made 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.

In the event that there are fees, 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 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Samuel Sinyangwe

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/ 

The City’s Good Faith Estimate to reproduce records responsive to your request is $1,081.25.Please log in to the Public Records Center at the following link to retrieve the City's Good Faith Estimate: City of Springfield Public Records Portal.

The City's Good Faith Estimate is based upon the hourly rate of the lowest-paid employee capable of completing the request. After deduction of the first two free-of-charge hours, the total estimated time required to respond to your request is 43.25 hours. Please note that the hourly rates of the staff working on your request have been reduced to 25 dollars in accordance with M.G. L. ch. 66, § 10(d)(iii) as required for a municipality assessing a fee to search, compile, segregate, or redact records in response to a public records request.

In order to fulfill your request, personnel at the Springfield Police Department’s Police Academy must search and compile all use of force (“i.e., any force above un-resisted handcuffing”) for the 2022 calendar year. This portion of the fee estimate is estimated to take approximately 40 hours for staff with the appropriate security clearance to search and compile all records pertaining to all use of force reports for the specified time period. Once records have been compiled and transmitted to the Law Department, the records must be reviewed for redactions. The Public Records Division anticipates this portion of the request to require at least 5.25 hours to review and redact all exempt information such as all information that could identify a victim, witness, or complainant and sensitive data related to specifically named individuals. See M.G.L. ch. 4, section 7(26)(c). All redacted records must be approved by the 1st Associate City Solicitor before release.

Since the total cost to comply with your public records request exceeds Ten Dollars ($10.00), you must pay the above-estimated fee in full prior to the reproduction of the documents. Payment must be made by certified check or money order, payable to the “City of Springfield” in the full amount of the good faith fee estimated above.

Please include your reference number in the memo section of the check or money order and mail to:

City of Springfield Law Department

Public Records Division

36 Court Street, Room 210

Springfield, MA 01103

Your request indicated that you wish to have fees waived for this request. To submit your request for a fee waiver, please complete and return the Affidavit of Indigency and Request For Waiver Of Public Records Request Of Fees &amp; Costs. You will receive a separate letter upon determination of the City’s fee waiver determination. Please submit your completed form and supporting attachments to the 1st Associate City Solicitor Jeremy Saint Laurent, Esq., by email to jsaintlaurent@springfieldcityhall.com or by mail at the address listed above.

Please advise this office if you accept the estimated cost to produce the records, or if you wish to modify your request. If the City does not receive a response within ten [10] business days after the date this letter is sent, your request will be deemed withdrawn.

You may provide a response to the City of Springfield by any of the following methods by responding to this email.

Should you be aggrieved by this response, you may appeal to the Supervisor of Public Records in the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s Office pursuant to 950 C.M.R. 32.00 and G.L. ch. 66, section 10(b).

Please contact the Public Records Division by responding to this email or by phone at (413) 787-6085 with any questions.  Please reference your Public Records Request number (24-2299) in all correspondence regarding this request.

Sincerely,

Public Records Division

* COS Affidavit of Indigency - (Rev. 9-6-2024).pdf

* Good Faith Estimate - Samuel Sinyangwe PRR 24-2299 9-5-2024.pdf

Document links are valid for one month.
After October 9, you will need to sign in to view the document(s).

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<em>Questions about your request?</em> Reply to this email or sign in to contact staff at City of Springfield, MA.<br><em>Technical support:</em> See our <a href="https://www.nextrequest.civicplus.help/hc/en-us/categories/17720084172567-Requesters">help page</a>

City of Springfield, MA

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Record request #24-2299 has been closed.

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<em>Questions about your request?</em> Reply to this email or sign in to contact staff at City of Springfield, MA.<br><em>Technical support:</em> See our <a href="https://www.nextrequest.civicplus.help/hc/en-us/categories/17720084172567-Requesters">help page</a>