Walsh IA Records
| Submitted | May 15, 2018 |
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Communications
From: Caitlin Russell
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:
-All internal affairs reports regarding former Wareham Police employee Kevin Walsh from the time he was hired by the department to the date this request is processed.
-All civilian complaints involving Kevin Walsh from the time he was hired by the department to the date this request is processed.
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, 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.
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,
Caitlin Russell
From: Wareham Police Department
To: Caitlin Russell
As required by Massachusetts Public Records Law, Chapter 66, § 10 of the Massachusetts General Law, please accept this email as response to your request for access to public records which was received by this office on Monday, May 21, 2018 requesting the following:
* ?All internal affairs reports regarding former Wareham Police employee Kevin Walsh from the time he was hired by the department to the date this request is processed.
* All civilian complaints involving Kevin Walsh from the time he was hired by the department to the date this request is processed.
I have forwarded this information to the appropriate departments. Once I have more information, I will respond again.
In addition, the Records Access Officer ("RAO") for the Town of Wareham is Mary Ann Silva. In an email to you from her dated 7/12/17, she advised that requests should be emailed to our office, the office of the Town Clerk, to assure that they are answered in a timely fashion according to the public records request law.
In the future, please be sure that public record requests are sent directly to this office.
Thank you.
Jenna L. Correia
Department Assistant III
Town of Wareham Clerk's Office
508-291-3100 x 3142
From: Wareham Police Department
To: Caitlin Russell
Per Town Counsel, we are gathering and processing information regarding your request. The Massachusetts Public Records Law allows municipalities 10 business days to provide records, provide a fee estimate, where applicable; or deny access to records in a manner consistent with G.L. c 66 S. 10 (a-b).
The 10th business day would be June 6, 2018. On or before June 6th, we will respond again with more information.
Thank you.
Jenna L. Correia
Department Assistant III
Town of Wareham Clerk's Office
508-291-3100 x 3142
From: Wareham Police Department
To: Caitlin Russell
Per Town Counsel, he is still in the process of reviewing the information. Would you be willing to give us an extension to 25 days?
Please let me know.
Thank you.
Jenna L. Deane
Department Assistant III
Town of Wareham Clerk's Office
508-291-3100 x 3142
From: Caitlin Russell
Can you tell me why exactly this "review"is needed, and why it'll take 25 days? I can't think of a valid reason why it would take that long to process and release those documents. Thank you.
Caitlin
From: Wareham Police Department
Hi Caitlin
The review is necessary because you have asked for all internal affairs reports regarding former Wareham Police employee Kevin Walsh from the time he was hired by the department to the date this request is processed. As well as all civilian complaints involving Kevin Walsh from the time he was hired by the department to the date this request is processed.
As you know from submitting previous requests regarding civilian complaints, information will need to be redacted. For an example of what and why certain information may be redacted would be, Exemption C the "Privacy Exception"; which allows withholding of "personnel and medical files or information; also any other data relating to a specifically named individual, the disclosure of which may constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy." There may be additional redactions performed by Town Council with the exceptions cited, which is why the review is necessary.
We are asking for an extension due to the nature of your request, our limited staffing and our responsibility to adhere to the Massachusetts Public Records Law.
If you do not agree to the extension, we will petition the Supervisor of Records for an extension of time.
Please let me know how you wish to proceed.
Jenna L. Deane
Department Assistant III
Town of Wareham Clerk's Office
508-291-3100 x 3142
From: Caitlin Russell
Hello,
I'm willing to grant this extension, but I expect that if redactions are necessary they will be appropriately done, and fully explained.
The last time the Town released docs to me that were redacted, they failed to adequately explain the redactions made to the documents. It's not enough to simply say that, for example, the privacy exemption is being invoked. Each redaction must be accompanied by the specific exemption that applies to that specific redaction, and it must also include an explanation as to why it applies.
Assuming Town Counsel is asking for an extension so that he may perform the redactions properly, (assuming any redactions are needed) I'm more than happy to wait an additional 25 days. Thank you for your assistance.
Best,
Caitlin
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Massachusetts Public Records Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on May 15, 2018. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Massachusetts Public Records Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on May 15, 2018. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From:
Caitlin,
Attached is the Police Department response to your records request.
You will see a redaction of a name in the documents. This redaction is based on Exemption (c), the privacy exemption, which permits the redaction of materials or data relating to a specifically named individual, the disclosure of which may constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
Thank you for your patience.
You may appeal this response to the Supervisor.
Rich
Richard Bowen
Wareham Town Counsel
From: Caitlin Russell
Hi Mr. Bowen,
I just want to confirm that the documents released to me in your most recent email are the complete set of responsive documents intended to be released, and that there's nothing missing.
I feel it's necessary to double check because for one thing, it seems like a rather small amount of information considering the length of Mr. Walsh's employment with the Wareham Police Department. Does this one incident represent the entirety of internal affairs reports on Mr. Walsh? In the final paragraph of the letter of reprimand, dated Sept. 30, 1993, then Police Chief Thomas Joyce writes "This letter will stand in your file for a period of one year and provided there are no further disciplinary matters during that time, this letter may than [sic] be purged." Seeing as the letter remained a part of his file as opposed to being "purged" this leads me to believe that there were further disciplinary matters involving Mr. Walsh. Were the records of these incidents inadvertently left out of the set of documents you released to me, or have you released everything you intend to?
Also, I requested the release of civilian complaints as well, and there aren't any included in the documents you've released. Did Mr. Walsh simply not have any civilian complaints filed against him in the course of his career, or have you chosen not to release them?
Thank you for you assistance in processing this request. I hope to hear back from you soon,
Best,
Caitlin
From: Wareham Police Department
Caitlin ,
These were to documents given to me by the current Chief that were responsive to your public records request.
I have not held back any documents, have explained all of the redactions, and the Town waived fees.
Best wishes
Rich
Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network.
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