The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth
Public Records Division
Shawn A Williams
Director

February 19, 2015
SPR14/679
Lieutenant Charles Gray
North Andover Police Department
14 7 5 Osgood Street
North Andover, MA 01845
Dear Lieutenant Gray:
I have received a petition from Todd Wallack of the Boston Globe appealing the response
of the North Andover Police Department (Department) to his request for public records. G. L. c.
66 § 1O(b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Wallack requested a copy of the
police report for a motor vehicle crash and arrest involving a specifically named individual that
occurred on or about March 3, 2014. Mr. Wallack also requested copies of high-resolution
photos of the automobile crash and the booking photograph of the arrested individual. The
Department provided Mr. Wallack with a copy of the police report; however the Department
denied the request for the photographs of the crash and the booking photograph.
The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all
governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); 950 C.M.R. 32.08(4). "Public
records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical
form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the
Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26).
It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in
order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); see also District Attorney for the
Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the
applicability of an exemption).
The Department denied Mr. Wallack's request for photographs regarding the motor
vehicle crash pursuant to the investigatory exemption of the Public Records Law. The
Department also denied access to the booking photograph pursuant to the Criminal Offender
Record Information Act (CORI) as it operates pursuant to the statutory exemption of the Public
Records Law. G. L. c. 4, § 7 (26)(a), (f); G. L. c. 6, § 167; 803 C.M.R. 2.03(3).

OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832. Fax (617) 727-5914
www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

 Lieutenant Charles Gray
Page Two
February 19,2015

SPR14/679

Exemption (f)
Exemption (f), the so-called investigatory exemption, permits investigatory officials to
withhold:
investigatory materials necessarily compiled out of the public view by law
enforcement or other investigatory officials the disclosure of which materials
would probably so prejudice the possibility of effective law enforcement that such
disclosure would not be in the public interest
G. L. c. 4, §7 (26)(f)

Exemption (f) provides limited protection for those law enforcement activities that
require a cloak of confidentiality to succeed. This exemption, however, does not provide a
blanket exemption for all investigatory materials. Reinstein v. Police Comm'r of Boston, 378
Mass. 281, 289 ( 1979). Instead, "it invites case-by-case consideration of whether access 'would
probably so prejudice the possibility of effective law enforcement that such disclosure would not
be in the public interest."' Id.
In your letter to Mr. Wallack you state that the motor vehicle crash photographs are
evidence that the Department anticipates will be used in an on-going criminal case, and that
release would prejudice the possibility of effective law enforcement. I find that the Department
has not met its burden of proving that disclosure of the photographs requested by Mr. Wallack
would be harmful to investigative efforts.

Exemption (a)
The Department is withholding a booking photograph as CORI. Exemption (a), the
statutory exemption, allows for the withholding of records that are:
specifically or by necessary implication exempted from disclosure by statute
G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(a)
A governmental entity may use Exemption (a) as a basis for withholding requested
materials where the language of the exempting statute suggests that the public's right to inspect
records under the Public Records Law is restricted. Attorney General v. Collector of Lynn, 377
Mass. 151, 154 (1979); Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. v. Appeals Court, 372 Mass. 539,545-46
(1977).
A government record custodian may withhold a record as CORI if it is a record compiled
by the Department concerning an identifiable individual and relates to the nature or disposition
of a criminal charge, an arrest, a pre-trial proceeding, other judicial proceedings, sentencing,

 Lieutenant Charles Gray
Page Three
February 19,2015

SPR14/679

incarceration, rehabilitation, or release. The Department withheld the booking photograph as
CORI both by statute and by regulation as a record created as the result of initiation of a criminal
proceeding. See G. L. c. 6, § 167. 803 C.M.R. 2.03(3).
The Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS) has previously defined
the "initiation of criminal proceedings" as "the point when a criminal investigation is sufficiently
complete that the investigating officers take actions toward bringing a specific suspect to court."
I find that the requested booking photograph falls within the definition of CORI. Accordingly, it
is the finding of this office that the Department acted appropriately in withholding the requested
record as CORI.
The Department is hereby ordered, within ten (10) days ofthis order, to provide Mr.
Wallack with the requested automobile crash photographs. If the Department maintains that any
portion of the remaining records are exempt from disclosure it ust, within ten (10) days provide
Mr. Wallack with a written explanation provided in a mann r ,nsistent with this order, the
Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. This adm'
·ativ, appeal is now closed.

cc: Mr. Todd Wallack