• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • 5 DOUBLE-U’S
    • MASTHEAD
    • DISTRIBUTION
    • ADVERTISE
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Boston's Only Newspaper

READ CURRENT STREET ISSUE

DIG Year End 2020

BROKEN RECORDS: THE SUN DON’T SHINE IN MASSACHUSETTS

Written by ANDREW QUEMERE Posted March 14, 2016 Filed Under: News, NEWS+OPINIONS

Image by Landgren (Worcester T&G) via Sunshine Week

Illustrations by Don Landgren (Worcester T&G) via Sunshine Week

 

In the Commonwealth, even paying for public records doesn’t guarantee you’ll get them

 

It’s Sunshine Week, the annual national initiative to promote open government and access to public records. Meteorologists have predicted rain and clouds across Massachusetts for the next several days—and the outlook for transparency in the Bay State is equally bleak.

 

“It’s pretty ironic that a state like Massachusetts that is so progressive in a lot of different ways can be so behind in some ways,” says Evan Anderson, a contributing writer for MuckRock, a Boston-based website that facilitates public records requests for its users. “[The] transparency and the accountability just really doesn’t seem to be there.”

 

Anderson knows from first-hand experience that the Commonwealth has one of the worst freedom of information laws in the country. A few years ago, he began looking into the relationship between the Boston Police Department and the shadowy National Security Agency. On June 26, 2014, he sent the police department a request for its email correspondence with the NSA during three periods, specifically related to Occupy Boston and the 2013 and 2014 Boston Marathons.

 

The law gives agencies no more than 10 days to respond. But in this case, the department waited more than two months before asking Anderson if he wanted to narrow his request due to “[m]any of [the emails] contain[ing] ‘Happy Birthday’ emails that go back and forth between multiple people.” While the apparent friendliness between the two agencies piqued Anderson’s interest, he agreed to let the department set aside the birthday wishes to save time and money. But it was still more than two months before the department provided a fee estimate for the records.

 

The BPD ultimately asked for $402.50 for some 700 pages worth of emails. “I didn’t expect it to be that [many pages],” Anderson says. “Apparently the Boston police and the NSA are pretty close and have a lot to talk about with each other.” He crowdfunded the money, and MuckRock sent a check on December 18, 2014. According to MuckRock Editor J. Patrick Brown, the police cashed the check on January 8, 2015.

 

If you think waiting months for a response and having to pay $400 for public records sounds bad, keep reading. You haven’t even gotten to the punchline yet: In the more than a year since the police department took the money, it still hasn’t provided the damn records.

 

Image by Landgren (Worcester T&G) via Sunshine Week-2In the time since MuckRock cut the check, Anderson has emailed the department more than two dozen times, but it has never responded. Late last year, he began calling. Anderson has spoken with a number of different people, but none of them have given a clear explanation for the holdup.

 

“I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve called them,” Anderson says. One spokesperson told him BPD was still waiting for payment, but was unable to say whether it had received the check that the department cashed nearly one year prior. Others said he would get a call back from Lieutenant Michael McCarthy, who made $202,231.92 last year as the department’s media relations director, but that never happened. McCarthy did not respond to our request for comment either.

 

During Anderson’s most recent call on March 8, someone finally told him that lawyers for the department were redacting the emails, and that it might be several more weeks before he received them. He still isn’t convinced.

 

“Each day it feels less and less likely that I will wake up and get the emails,” Anderson says. “The Boston police are the worst when it comes to records. I’ve had requests with them that just haven’t even been responded to … I’m not sure how they are so disorganized, but however they do it definitely has the side effect, or serves the function of, discouraging people from filing requests with them.”

 

Anderson isn’t the only one struggling to pry records from BPD’s clutches. After he declined to pay for the “happy birthday” messages between the police department and NSA, independant journalist Joshua Eaton made a separate request for them. It took several weeks and a number of follow ups, but the department eventually provided Eaton with a fee estimate of $402.50. Two weeks later, the department withdrew the fee estimate because it was actually intended for Anderson’s request. Despite 13 follow-up emails, the BPD never gave Eaton an accurate fee estimate.

 

Eaton tried appealing to the secretary of the Commonwealth’s office, but it refused to help him because his request was over 90 days old. From there he refiled his request, and the Boston police again failed to respond. Eaton appealed again, and on October 5, almost three months after opening the very simple appeal, the secretary of the Commonwealth’s office ruled that the police had to answer the request. To this day, the department has not responded.

 

In fact, Boston police actually warn everyone who sends them a public records request that they intend to violate the law by sending a boilerplate email that explains the request “may take longer than ten days to be fulfilled” and advises the requester to “[p]lease plan accordingly.”

 

“I can’t plan that far ahead,” Anderson quipped.

 

In total, MuckRock has sent the Boston police nearly 200 records requests in the past six years. Of the more than 100 requests that have been completed, it took an average of 91 days for the department to comply. And about three dozen of MuckRock’s outstanding requests are currently overdue.

 

It’s not just the Boston police who obstruct records requests. A massive audit by Northeastern University journalism students and the Boston Globe recently found that 58 percent of the Commonwealth’s 351 municipalities did not respond to requests within 10 days, as mandated by law. While Anderson calls the BPD the worst, it was the Massachusetts State Police who won last year’s Golden Padlock “Award” when Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. named them the most secretive government agency in the country. And there’s no real enforcement of the law either; as we’ve documented in this column, the secretary of the Commonwealth and attorney general, who are responsible for public records oversight, aren’t doing anything to hold lawbreaking public officials accountable.

 

A major effort to update the public information law is currently underway; state legislators have finally acknowledged that the Massachusetts records law is an embarrassment and decided to take action. But their proposed updates could either make the law even worse or create some mild improvements that still fall short of making the law functional, so our work will nevertheless be cut out for us.

 

Here’s to hoping the next Sunshine Week is brighter—literally and figuratively.

 

BONUS: The Secretary of Secrecy, Part II

Last week, in what seems to be an attempt to save face, Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin stole our state legislators’ thunder by issuing new regulations that reduce the allowable copying fees for records to five cents per page. The public records update bill, which lawmakers are likely to pass this summer, would do the same thing.

 

The public records law holds that copying costs must reflect the actual cost of providing the records, but the secretary of the Commonwealth’s office has held since 1983 (years before Galvin took office) that agencies can charge 20 cents per page for photocopies and 50 cents per page for printing records from a computer. Back in August, Galvin proposed a ballot question that would have set the price at 15 cents per page, raising the question of why he didn’t just update the regulations back then to reflect the actual cost. Also, why does he now believe the actual cost is a third of what he thought it was just a few months ago?

 

But whatever. We’ll take our victories where we can get them.

 

Broken Records is a biweekly column produced in partnership between the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, DigBoston, and the Bay State Examiner. Follow BINJ on Twitter @BINJreports for upcoming installments of Maya and Andrew’s ongoing reporting on public information.

 

For Sunshine Week, we encourage our readers to get involved and make some public records requests of their own. If you’re not familiar with the process, you can try making a request using MuckRock, or you can read up on how to do it yourself on the secretary of the Commonwealth’s website. Feel free to tweet us at @BrokenRecordsMA if you have any questions. MuckRock is also hosting a meetup in Cambridge on Friday, where you can learn more about making records requests. Of course, we’ll understand if you’re not interested; not everyone is a masochist.

 

Also, check out our friends The Young Jurks on WEMF Radio, who have had us on as guests recently. You can hear Andrew talking about the public records update bills here. You can find more episodes of The Young Jurks on WEMF and iTunes, and listen live every Saturday at 6 pm.

ANDREW QUEMERE
More from author
  • ANDREW QUEMERE
    https://digboston.com/author/andrew-quemere/
    BIG NEWS: SJC RULES MASS AGENCIES CAN’T WITHHOLD FEDERAL RECORDS
  • ANDREW QUEMERE
    https://digboston.com/author/andrew-quemere/
    SJC WEIGHS RECORDS CASE RELATED TO BPD-FBI KILLING OF USAAMAH RAHIM
  • ANDREW QUEMERE
    https://digboston.com/author/andrew-quemere/
    BROKEN RECORDS: MONKEY WRENCHING
  • ANDREW QUEMERE
    https://digboston.com/author/andrew-quemere/
    BROKEN RECORDS: COLD CASE, COLDER SHOULDER

Filed Under: News, NEWS+OPINIONS Tagged With: #mapoli, BINJ, Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, Boston Police Department, BPD, Broken Records, FOIA, Golden Padlock Awards, J. Patrick Brown, Massachusetts, MuckRock, National Security Agency, NSA, Secretary Galvin, Sunshine Week

WHAT’S NEW

DEAR GLOBE READERS LAUNCHES AS PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGN

DEAR GLOBE READERS LAUNCHES AS PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGN

SOULDIER STORY: JOEL MASSICOT ON MIXING MARTIAL ARTS, DANCE, AND MILITARY INFLUENCES

SOULDIER STORY: JOEL MASSICOT ON MIXING MARTIAL ARTS, DANCE, AND MILITARY INFLUENCES

THE END OF THE WORLD IN AN AIRBNB

THE END OF THE WORLD IN AN AIRBNB

MEETING THREATS WITH HOPE AND COURAGE

MEETING THREATS WITH HOPE AND COURAGE

TITANIC SHIFTS: DEMS SWAP DECK CHAIRS AMIDST GOP-PROVOKED TSUNAMI

TITANIC SHIFTS: DEMS SWAP DECK CHAIRS AMIDST GOP-PROVOKED TSUNAMI

NEARLY A YEAR INTO PANDEMIC, MASS CATS ARE STILL SHORT ON FOOD

NEARLY A YEAR INTO PANDEMIC, MASS CATS ARE STILL SHORT ON FOOD

Primary Sidebar

HEMPIRE FREEDOM PACK 25% OFF

FEATURED EVENT

Most Popular

  • APPOINTED SOMERVILLE OFFICIAL SPURS OUTRAGE WITH TWEETS FROM DC MOB SCENE by MARC LEVY
  • Aerial View Parkman Bandstand at Boston Common. CC BY-SA 4.0 2017 by AbhiSuryawanshi. NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 PROTEST ON BOSTON COMMON, 4 PM by MATTHEW ANDREWS
  • VIDEO: COP WHO BRAGGED THAT HE HIT PROTESTERS SHOWS HOW BAD APPLES THRIVE IN BOSTON by CHRIS FARAONE
  • PRISON HORRORS BY THE NUMBERS by SARAH BETANCOURT
  • IT’S HARDER THAN EVER TO FIND A BATHROOM IN BOSTON. WHAT’S THE CITY DOING ABOUT IT? by ZACK HUFFMAN

READ CURRENT MEMBER EDITION

DIG Member 1.9 – 11/26/20

READ CURRENT STREET ISSUE

DIG Year End 2020

Footer

digbos

“We were all caught pretty off guard when the pa “We were all caught pretty off guard when the pandemic hit, but I think that using the resources that we have available to us we have been able to meet the demand at every step.” https://digboston.com/handling-the-herd-how-boston-built-its-massive-covid-testing-apparatus/ #politics #Boston #Massachusetts #coronavirus #COVID19
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker started the new year Republican Gov. Charlie Baker started the new year by vetoing a sweeping #climate change bill. https://digboston.com/titanic-shifts-dems-swap-deck-chairs-amidst-gop-provoked-tsunami/ #politics #news #Democrats #GOP #Boston #Massachusetts #USA #veto
“Trump was voted out. However, this is not a man “Trump was voted out. However, this is not a mandate for #Biden and #Harris.” https://digboston.com/photos-recap-no-honeymoon-for-biden-rally-in-boston/ #photo #rally #march #left #protest #inauguration #Boston #Massachusetts
OPINION: IS DISSENT ANTI-NATIONALISM OR PATRIOTISM OPINION: IS DISSENT ANTI-NATIONALISM OR PATRIOTISM? #Boston #protest for Indian farmers, Saturday 1/23/21, 12-1 pm at the #Massachusetts State House https://digboston.com/opinion-is-dissent-anti-nationalism-or-patriotism/ #India #politics #food #farmer #protest #justice #solidarity @monica_gill1
HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO A HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO APPEASE A CONTROVERSIAL COP https://digboston.com/no-justice-how-officials-in-one-mass-town-took-extraordinary-measures-to-appease-a-controversial-cop/ #ArlingtonMA #police #reform #cop #racism #controversy #BlackLivesMatter #Massachusetts
Ghost kitchens simply don’t have a need for host Ghost kitchens simply don’t have a need for hosts, servers, bartenders, bussers … What happens to those #jobs if virtual kitchens continue to flourish? https://digboston.com/ghost-story-virtual-kitchens-appear-to-be-the-next-big-thing-but-at-what-cost/ #restaurant #labor #work #Boston #Massachusetts #coronavirus #COVID19
“I don’t think we’re going to wake up on Jan “I don’t think we’re going to wake up on Jan. 7 in the same country we went to bed in on the 6th.” https://digboston.com/former-mass-gubernatorial-candidate-predicted-violence-before-assault-on-capitol/ #politics #Massachusetts #national #Capitol #WashingtonDC #MAGA
RADICAL AND RELEVANT: THE LIFE OF HARRY BRILL http RADICAL AND RELEVANT: THE LIFE OF HARRY BRILL https://digboston.com/radical-and-relevant-the-life-of-harry-brill/ #obituary #organizer #radical #sociologist #democracy #politics @UMassBoston @BklynCollege411 @UCBerkeley #Boston #Massachusetts #NewYorkCity #Berkeley #California
NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 #PROTEST ON BOSTON CO NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 #PROTEST ON BOSTON COMMON, 4 PM https://digboston.com/no-honeymoon-for-biden-1-20-protest-on-boston-common-4-pm/ #opinion #progressive #left #action #inauguration #Boston #Massachusetts
Light and sweet and hoppy, we’re loving this lat Light and sweet and hoppy, we’re loving this latest incarnation of a #beer that’s been in the making for months. https://digboston.com/video-jacks-abby-x-boston-celtics-pride-and-parquet-hoppy-lager-unboxing-tasting/ #fun #video #review #Boston #Massachusetts
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Submissions

Advertise

Privacy Policy

Customer Service

Distribution

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an e-mail blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: [email protected] To reach Editorial: [email protected] For internship opportunities: [email protected]