Search Warrant Data (Boston Police Department)

Dear Lucy Labs,

Thank you for your interest in public records of Boston Police Department.  Your request has been received and is being processed.  Your request was received in this office on November 04, 2019 and given the reference number B001597-110419 for tracking purposes.
If this is a media request, please contact the Office of Media Relations directly at 617.343.4520. To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

For all search warrants, applications for search warrants, cancellations, and authorization for search warrants between 2012 to the date of processing this request, please provide the following points of record for each:

Full Name of requester
If arrest, arrest ID (eg some cities/states use, "Incident Report")
Reason(s) for search warrant (typically either hand-written, or checkboxes)
Badge ID (or similar) of requester
District/Unit
Name of Judge
Name of approving officer
Whether an Arrest happened
Requested location of search warrant
Location of search warrant execution
Type of search warrant
Statements used to justify search warrant
Time and date when search warrant was submitted for approval
Time and date when search warrant was executed
Whether anything was seized
Whether anything was found
License plate of vehicle (if relevant)
Race of person for search warrant
Age of person for search warrant
State of person for search warrant
Whether an informant was involved
Method of contact with informant leading to search warrant (eg, phone call, mail, fax, email, etc)
Description of person search warrant executed on
Legal code of violation
Description of violation
Date of violation
If search warrant related to debt: name of company debt is owed to, amount owed
Whether FBI involved
ID associated with FBI document (eg, IR #)
Whether search warrant was cancelled
Whether contraband found
Whether narcotics found

The records responsive to this request are likely available in a database, or in some query-able format. If your department or agency does not have direct access to the records, please raise to the respective department that can run queries directly (eg, through SQL).

Should your agency not have all of the requested records within a single record or document, please provide me the relevant documents that do, even if that requires more than one class of document. Should some of the records be unavailable, please let me know ahead of time so that we can narrow the request accordingly.

As the records responsive to this request are imperative for understanding how search warrants are executed, I ask that the public interest of these records be evaluated to the extent that the public's interest outweighs this request's burden. To add, this request is being sent to the largest city of every state and will be collated together to create a comprehensive map of search warrants throughout the US. As such, the records are not only important for understanding search warrants at a local level, but also at a national and state-wide level.

Please ensure that provided documents comply with Section 508, as these records will be shared with members of the public who are covered under the ADA. This guide should be helpful: https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/pdf/index.html

If this request was sent to the wrong department or agency, please let me know so that I can send to the correct place.

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,

Lucy Parsons Labs

Upload documents directly: https://https://www.muckrock.comhttps://accounts.muckrock.com/accounts/login/?url_auth_token=AAAj3SmFwCqGc-tMmfYbORz2o9M%3A1iRXQh%3A-uY6XD6r_NtBbX9XyNqNfIIM-Qg&next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.muckrock.com%2Faccounts%2Flogin%2F%3Fnext%3D%252Faccounts%252Fagency_login%252Fboston-police-department-174%252Fsearch-warrant-data-boston-police-department-82666%252F%253Femail%253Dpublicrecords%252540boston.gov


You can monitor the progress of your request at the link below and you'll receive an email when your request has been completed. Again, thank you for using the Public Records Center.
Boston Police Department
To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the Public Records Center. (https://u8387795.ct.sendgrid.net/wf/click?upn=Ow1KccipsoIsnXbuEgm-2FN44UxibBu-2FIglin8-2BcIh862t9Kmt3AfKStll-2B33fHgly7q38DmBAVMR8lGDbp0zIubKPJ0Oj0OnS5HvQEV1geJZCYe9u0ZOP7iWUdyM-2FC6Wv_Ztq79ZGUWVFu-2BjyFBpZW2yrH5hSGop-2BPTwIzpNfjbn-2FmYIarOgMlPrNUoLy0jg8YnlPaUpxfWUTWVIVeh7d-2FmTjJ9DeBmm3B6pk1c7Lqbh45sYTmkF4kLAcld86XPNPjdXMKimxq-2FBDMgDJmg562dHUav3Q2rYABfzZfSlglViJOie6XzqsscxHDdhq-2Bg49nwlXBCLFlnB11wAblcDNw9JaKV0yxJbr7-2FuOU5ldSgoAfgwlmruCVyCkj3PLdWYx-2FhCzj5aS2TzZKtMYQs6VrYO1kdayE3838yvAIEabgIKqZRWphgWUrwzCtmeJ3e-2FoF4Qv2-2FPB03TogXnj8SitbeppaCCROM1fITo-2FCdX221QrYFp7kNDyyPNAkpySC-2BQv-2FhKVHddFOVHLKEQC3wDZEXw-3D-3D)

--- Please respond above this line ---




City of Boston
Mayor Martin J. Walsh
Public Records RE: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of November 04, 2019., Reference # B001597-110419 Dear Lucy : The City of Boston (City) has received your request for public records.  This response applies only to records that exist and are in the custody of the City. See A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, p. 32, n.115.  It is expected that a custodian of records must use her superior knowledge of her records with respect to responses to public records requests.  950 CMR 32.04(5).  Specifically, you stated:
To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

For all search warrants, applications for search warrants, cancellations, and authorization for search warrants between 2012 to the date of processing this request, please provide the following points of record for each:

Full Name of requester
If arrest, arrest ID (eg some cities/states use, "Incident Report")
Reason(s) for search warrant (typically either hand-written, or checkboxes)
Badge ID (or similar) of requester
District/Unit
Name of Judge
Name of approving officer
Whether an Arrest happened
Requested location of search warrant
Location of search warrant execution
Type of search warrant
Statements used to justify search warrant
Time and date when search warrant was submitted for approval
Time and date when search warrant was executed
Whether anything was seized
Whether anything was found
License plate of vehicle (if relevant)
Race of person for search warrant
Age of person for search warrant
State of person for search warrant
Whether an informant was involved
Method of contact with informant leading to search warrant (eg, phone call, mail, fax, email, etc)
Description of person search warrant executed on
Legal code of violation
Description of violation
Date of violation
If search warrant related to debt: name of company debt is owed to, amount owed
Whether FBI involved
ID associated with FBI document (eg, IR #)
Whether search warrant was cancelled
Whether contraband found
Whether narcotics found

The records responsive to this request are likely available in a database, or in some query-able format. If your department or agency does not have direct access to the records, please raise to the respective department that can run queries directly (eg, through SQL).

Should your agency not have all of the requested records within a single record or document, please provide me the relevant documents that do, even if that requires more than one class of document. Should some of the records be unavailable, please let me know ahead of time so that we can narrow the request accordingly.

As the records responsive to this request are imperative for understanding how search warrants are executed, I ask that the public interest of these records be evaluated to the extent that the public's interest outweighs this request's burden. To add, this request is being sent to the largest city of every state and will be collated together to create a comprehensive map of search warrants throughout the US. As such, the records are not only important for understanding search warrants at a local level, but also at a national and state-wide level.

Please ensure that provided documents comply with Section 508, as these records will be shared with members of the public who are covered under the ADA. This guide should be helpful: https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/pdf/index.html

If this request was sent to the wrong department or agency, please let me know so that I can send to the correct place.

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,

Lucy Parsons Labs

Upload documents directly: https://https://www.muckrock.comhttps://accounts.muckrock.com/accounts/login/?url_auth_token=AAAj3SmFwCqGc-tMmfYbORz2o9M%3A1iRXQh%3A-uY6XD6r_NtBbX9XyNqNfIIM-Qg&next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.muckrock.com%2Faccounts%2Flogin%2F%3Fnext%3D%252Faccounts%252Fagency_login%252Fboston-police-department-174%252Fsearch-warrant-data-boston-police-department-82666%252F%253Femail%253Dpublicrecords%252540boston.gov It appears you seek information that may be available in the court system.  The Boston Police Department does not possess a record that contains this information.  Please note the public records law applies to records that exist and does not require a custodian to create a record or conduct research. Very truly yours, Shawn A. Williams, Esq. Director of Public Records Records Access Officer