Civil Asset Forfeiture
It is a clone of this request.
| Submitted | Oct. 17, 2022 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Jordan Lassiter
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:
Accounting records or statistics on seized real estate, vehicles, firearms, funds in bank accounts and seizures made by the department , as well as seizures made by federal authorities where the department receives a share of said assets or monies
-Any annual reports produced on the civil asset forfeiture program.
-Documents showing the balance of any funds currently in the Civil Asset Forfeiture fund.
-Itemized spenditure or distribution of funds
-A list of all items seized through civil asset forfeiture and retained for use by the
.
-Please also include any information relating to contested seizures. This request does not include court documents for individual forfeiture cases.
This request is for the last 10 years
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,
Jordan
From: Muckrock Staff
Hello,
Please find the request form attached. Thank you for your help with this request.
Sincerely,
MuckRock
From: Cambridge Police Department
Good morning,
This request is directed at the Cambridge Police Department, which can be
contacted at 617-349-3300.
From: Muckrock Staff
Good Afternoon,
Please see the following request for records. Thank you for your help with this request.
Sincerely,
MuckRock
From: Cambridge Police Department
Good afternoon,
The records office wouldn’t have access to any of the information you’ve requested. I’ll send this to out legal team and you’ll be hearing from them. Have a great day.
CA
From: Cambridge Police Department
Dear Jordan :
Your public records request has been received by the City of Cambridge, and is being processed in accordance with Public Records Law. Your request was received in this office on 10/17/2022 and has been given the reference number P230469-041023 for tracking purposes. Requests received after hours, on weekends, or on a City of Cambridge Holiday are considered received on the next business day under the Public Records law, regardless of when they are actually received or entered into our system. Please be advised that the Massachusetts Public Records Law does not require a governmental body to create new records, conduct legal research, or answer questions, in order to provide a response to a request.
The City of Cambridge Business Hours are as follows: M: 8:30 AM to 8:00 PM, T-W-Th: 8:30 AM to 8:00 PM, F: 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM.
Sincerely,
Seah Levy
Public Records Access Officer
City of Cambridge, Law Department
City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 349-4121 | Fax: (617) 349-4134
publicrecords@cambridgema.gov
From: Cambridge Police Department
Dear Jordan,
Please find a response to your public records request attached.
Best,
Seah Levy
Public Records Access Officer
City of Cambridge, Law Department
City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 349-4121 | Fax: (617) 349-4134
publicrecords@cambridgema.gov<mailto:publicrecords@cambridgema.gov>
From: Jordan Lassiter
Dear Seah Levy,
Thank you for providing me with a cost estimate for my public records request. While I understand the need for an estimate and the associated fees, I would like to respectfully request a reevaluation of the fees assessed, particularly regarding the search and copying time expenses.
In accordance with Massachusetts case law, fees charged for responding to public records requests must be reasonable and not intended to discourage access to public records. Specifically, in the case of Brunelle v. Lynn, the court held that "fees charged for responding to public records requests must bear a reasonable relationship to the actual cost of responding and may not be used as an instrument of obstruction." As such, I would appreciate a detailed explanation of how the estimated cost of $3,012.50 was calculated, particularly in relation to the hourly rates and hours estimated for each department involved.
Additionally, I would like to inquire if there is anything that can be done to limit the scope of my request and reduce the overall cost. If there is a way to narrow the request or focus on specific documents that would be more manageable to provide, I would be happy to work with you on this matter.
Thank you for your attention to this request. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Jordan Lassiter
From: Cambridge Police Department
Hi Jordan,
Unfortunately, this is a difficult request, that will require multiple staff members in various departments to search for records across case files and a large time span. With limited staff they will need to fit their searches into their regular duties and workdays. There are no pre-created spreadsheets or databases that can be utilized to provide a response for this request. The City does not create new records to provide a response, so this means locating the original documents, scanning them, and where there is personal or confidential information involved, making redactions as necessary.
As you will have probably seen on the cost estimate, if we can provide the records in two hours or less, there will be no cost to you.
The easiest first step for this request might be to narrow the time frame. The older the record, the more difficult it may be to locate and provide. The next step might be to focus on the assets seizures that you find most important, for example: real estate. Any steps that you can take to narrow the number of departments involved in the search will help us reduce the time involved.
Let me know how you would like to proceed. I can be reached by email or phone with any questions. Once I have your revisions, I will take them to the various departments and put together a new cost estimate.
Best,
Seah
Seah Levy
Public Records Access Officer
City of Cambridge, Law Department
City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 349-4121 | Fax: (617) 349-4134
publicrecords@cambridgema.gov
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