BPD Rules and Procedures in editable format

To Whom it May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c.66, §10, I hereby request the following records:

The complete Rules and Procedures document as found in pieces on this page -- http://bpdnews.com/rules-and-procedures/ -- but as a single Microsoft Word or Open Office word processor file (rtf, doc, docx, or odf file extension).

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 fees cannot be waived, 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,

Adam Friedman

Hello Office of Media Relations,

I received your response 20 days ago. In your response, you wrote:

(1) "We will contact you as soon as possible with our findings."

(2) "If your request requires a substantial amount of research, reviewing and redacting, fulfilling the request will take a significant amount of time."

Given that a) you were able to respond promptly within three days of my initial request, and given that b) my request is asking for a source file of one of the most common and essential documents in the department and thus should not require "a significant amount of time" to fulfill, and given that 3) such a file simply needs to be retrieved from a desktop computer or network drive and can be accomplished in less than 15 man-minutes, I find it unreasonable and in potential violation of the statute that your department has allowed 20 days to elapse and has thus far failed to fulfill this simple request.

Please follow the statute as directed and provide the modest item I am requesting.

Thank you!

Thank you for following up promptly. If they in fact do not exist in Microsoft Word or Open Office word processor file formats (rtf, doc, docx, or odf file extension), then please deliver this in a single HTML, word processor, or other editable file format comparable to those specified in my request. If this (curiously) does not exist in any of the formats outlined above, please deliver as a single PDF file. Thanks for your attention and again, for your promptness.

Also, I just used Adobe Acrobat Professional to analyze the metadata on one of the PDF files off of the website. As I suspected, it was created in Microsoft Word and outputted in PDF. So perhaps you can clarify what you mean by the regs "do not exist in this form." Or just refer me to someone who can properly fulfill my request. Thanks.

Well, I just wrote some code to scrape the site and put it together myself. How about you offer a couple of links on your website to give your visitors the option to download these full files?

Word format: http://vivwebclients.com/bpd/BPD-Rules-and-Procedures.docx
PDF format: http://vivwebclients.com/bpd/BPD-Rules-and-Procedures.pdf

Also, please identify yourself so I can follow up.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Dec. 6, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

I have asked you respectfully to fulfill this request and have provided proactive solutions to make this happen. I also asked you to identify yourself, and you are obligated by law to do so. Please obey the law.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Dec. 6, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Dec. 6, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Dec. 6, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Dec. 6, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.