Police Officers Living in Public Housing (Brockton City Clerk)

Your request has been forwarded to Law@cobma.us and police@cobma.us

Good afternoon:

The law department for the City of Brockton is in receipt of your email
following up on the below public records request. We received your request
initially on April 5, as seen below. I am unsure how the date was changed
to March 30, 2021 in your email this morning. In any event, we are working
on responding and will have a response to you within the 10 days (by April
20, 2021).

Thank you,
Allison Cogliano
Assistant City Solicitor
The City of Brockton

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Law Dept. <law@cobma.us>
Date: Tue, Apr 6, 2021 at 3:07 PM
Subject: Fwd: Massachusetts Public Records Law Request: Police Officers
Living in Public Housing (Brockton City Clerk)
To: Brenda Perez <bperez@brocktonpolice.com>
Cc: Law Staff <lawstaff@cobma.us>

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Patricia Chinn <pchinn@cobma.us>
Date: Tue, Apr 6, 2021 at 3:02 PM
Subject: Fwd: Massachusetts Public Records Law Request: Police Officers
Living in Public Housing (Brockton City Clerk)
To: Law <law@cobma.us>, <police@cobma.us>

For your attention

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: <requests@muckrock.com>
Date: Mon, Apr 5, 2021 at 1:21 PM
Subject: Massachusetts Public Records Law Request: Police Officers Living
in Public Housing (Brockton City Clerk)
To: <cityclerk@cobma.us>

April 5, 2021

To Whom It May Concern:

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

1. Rules, policies, or other practice documents concerning residency
restrictions for police officers, command staff, and other police staff. If
residency restrictions allow for a waiver, then records for each year from
2016 through 2021 that reflect
(a) the number of residency rule waivers applied,
(b) the stated reason for the residency waiver, and
(c) the outcome of the residency waiver.

2. Rules, policies, or other practice documents from your municipality that
lay out whether police department staff (including officers) can receive
housing subsidies and/or live in public housing, even if they do not
qualify under the income guidelines.

3. Records that indicate for each year from 2016 through 2021 how many
police department staff (including officers and staff of all ranks) live in
public housing, and the name of the housing development where the officer
lives. This can either be a snapshot on January 1st of each year 2016
through 2021, or a summary of the entire period

4. Records that indicate housing allowances or other subsidized housing
(not already covered in question 3 above) provided to police department
staff (including officers and command staff) in your or another
municipality.

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,

Joshua Dankoff

View request history, upload responsive documents, and report problems here:
https://www.muckrock.com/

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com

For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 110472
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is
being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share,
and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed
(i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the
department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.

--
*Allison M. Cogliano*
Assistant City Solicitor
45 School Street - City Hall
Brockton, MA 02301
Phone: (508) 580-7110

NOTICE: This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are
addressed. If you have received this email in error, please delete the
email from your system and notify the sender immediately. This message
contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual
named. If you are not the named addressee, you should not disseminate,
distribute or copy this email. If you are not the intended recipient, you
are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in
reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.

Good afternoon:

Please accept this email as response to your public records request dated
April 5, 2021 (see below).

In response to part 1 of your request, I have attached collective
bargaining agreements and all related amendments which set forth the
residency requirement here in the City of Brockton. Also responsive to
number 1 and attached is the only residency waiver that was received in the
time period you've requested. Said waiver was denied.

In response to parts 2 and 4 of your request, the City has no responsive
documents.

In response to part 3 of your request, the City will not respond as such
information would easily reveal the home addresses of City employees and
would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Furthermore,
the City will not respond pursuant to the following:

Please be advised that M.G.L. c. 4, § 7(26)(o) exempts from disclosure “the
home address, personal email address and home telephone number of an
employee of the judicial branch, an unelected employee of the general
court, an agency, executive office, department, board, commission, bureau,
division or authority of the commonwealth, or of a political subdivision
thereof or of an authority established by the general court to serve a
public purpose, in the custody of a government agency which maintains
records identifying persons as falling within those categories…” Further,
M.G.L. c. 4, § 7(26)(c), exempts from disclosure any “materials or data
relating to a specifically named individual, the disclosure of which may
constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”

Regards,
Allison Cogliano

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: <requests@muckrock.com>
Date: Mon, Apr 5, 2021 at 1:21 PM
Subject: Massachusetts Public Records Law Request: Police Officers Living
in Public Housing (Brockton City Clerk)
To: <cityclerk@cobma.us>

April 5, 2021

To Whom It May Concern:

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

1. Rules, policies, or other practice documents concerning residency
restrictions for police officers, command staff, and other police staff. If
residency restrictions allow for a waiver, then records for each year from
2016 through 2021 that reflect
(a) the number of residency rule waivers applied,
(b) the stated reason for the residency waiver, and
(c) the outcome of the residency waiver.

2. Rules, policies, or other practice documents from your municipality that
lay out whether police department staff (including officers) can receive
housing subsidies and/or live in public housing, even if they do not
qualify under the income guidelines.

3. Records that indicate for each year from 2016 through 2021 how many
police department staff (including officers and staff of all ranks) live in
public housing, and the name of the housing development where the officer
lives. This can either be a snapshot on January 1st of each year 2016
through 2021, or a summary of the entire period

4. Records that indicate housing allowances or other subsidized housing
(not already covered in question 3 above) provided to police department
staff (including officers and command staff) in your or another
municipality.

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,

Joshua Dankoff

View request history, upload responsive documents, and report problems here:
https://www.muckrock.com/

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred):

For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 110472
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is
being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share,
and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed
(i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the
department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.

--
*Allison M. Cogliano*
Assistant City Solicitor
45 School Street - City Hall
Brockton, MA 02301
Phone: (508) 580-7110

NOTICE: This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are
addressed. If you have received this email in error, please delete the
email from your system and notify the sender immediately. This message
contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual
named. If you are not the named addressee, you should not disseminate,
distribute or copy this email. If you are not the intended recipient, you
are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in
reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.