Decision SPR23/1441

Winthrop Police Department · from StateReference · 2 pages · 136 KB
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 
William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth
Public Records Division 
Manza Arthur 
Supervisor of 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 
July 10, 2023 
SPR23/1441 
Chief Terence M. Delehanty 
Records Access Officer 
Winthrop Police Department 
3 Metcalf Square 
Winthrop, MA 02152 
Dear Chief Delehanty: 
I have received the petition of Jeff Raymond, of the Bramanville Tribune , appealing the
nonresponse of the Winthrop 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 16, 2023, Mr. Raymond
requested “any responsive documents and/or communications concerning your municipality’s
police department and its compliance with the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and
Training (POST) Commission’s duties under Chapter 253 of the Acts of 2020 to create a
‘database listing complaints against police officers,’ as detailed below.” Specifically, Mr.
Raymond requested: 
[1.] A copy of the document your police department sent to the POST
Commission, likely sent between November 2021 and June of 2022, providing the
information requested by the POST Commission for its ‘database listing
complaints against police officers’ planned for May of 2022…. 
[2.] Copies of any relevant responsive communications between a) your police
department and/or your town officials and b) the POST Commission in regard to
the database planned for May of 2022 as detailed above and/or compliance with
the reporting for said database between the dates of July 1, 2021 and December
31, 2022, broadly construed…. 
[3.] Copies of any relevant responsive communications within or between a) your 
police department and b) your municipal administration in regard to this database 
and/or compliance with this mandate between the dates of July 1, 2021 and 
December 31, 2022, broadly construed…. 
[4.] Information concerning ‘complaints against police officers’ issued in the 
Chief Terence M. Delehanty SPR23/1441
Page 2
July 10, 2023 
calendar year 2022 and through March 31, 2023, preferably in the same format 
used for the information sent to POST between November 2021 and June of 2022 
for the earlier-mentioned database…. 
[5.] A copy of the document your police department sent to the POST
Commission as sent to the POST Commission, likely sent between December 1,
2022 and April 9, 2023, to comply with the ‘2023 POST Commission
Disciplinary Records Resubmission’…. 
[6.] Copies of any relevant responsive communications within or between a) your 
police department and b) your municipal administration in regard to this database 
and/or compliance with the “2023 POST Commission Disciplinary Records
Resubmission” described above. 
Claiming to not yet have received responsive records, Mr. Raymond petitioned this office
and this appeal, SPR23/1441, was opened as a result. 
Despite being notified of the opening of this appeal, it remains unclear whether the
Department has provided a response. Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr.
Raymond with a response to his request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the
Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. A copy of any such
response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this
response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Mr. Raymond may appeal the substantive nature
of the Department’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). 
Sincerely, 
Manza Arthur 
Supervisor of Records 
cc: Jeff Raymond