Public Records Request for Data on School Policing (East Longmeadow Police Department)

Alisha Patel filed this request with the East Longmeadow Police Department of East Longmeadow, MA.

It is a clone of this request.

Multi Request Public Records Request for Data on School Policing
Status
Completed

Communications

From: katherine stathulis

To whoever it may concern:

This letter constitutes a request pursuant to the Public Records Act, G.L. c.66, §10, for public records in the custody of your school district. Under the Criminal Justice Reform Act, school districts and law enforcement agencies must “specify the manner and division of responsibility for collecting and reporting the school-based arrests, citations and court referrals of students to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education” (DESE). DESE began collecting data on school-related arrests in the 2018-19 school year. In the 2019-20 school year, DESE has expanded that collection to include data on all referrals to law enforcement. DESE has defined these terms as follows, borrowing the same definitions used by the U.S. Department of Education since its 2009 Civil Rights Data Collection.

A school-related arrest “[r]efers to an arrest of a student for any activity conducted on school grounds, during off campus school activities (including while taking school transportation), or due to a referral by any school official. All school-related arrests are considered referrals to law enforcement.”

A referral to law enforcement “[i]s an action by which a student is reported to any law enforcement agency or official, including a school police unit, for an incident that occurs on school grounds, during school-related events, or while taking school transportation, regardless of whether official action is taken. Citations, tickets, court referrals, and school-related arrests are considered referrals to law enforcement.”

I request the following public records, as defined in G. L. c. 4, § 7 (twenty-sixth):

1. An extract of your records management system or database that includes each school-related arrest and each referral to law enforcement conducted during the 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 school year (up until the day the records are produced). Specifically, we request an extract of the database to include the following columns:
a. Date of arrest or referral to law enforcement
b. Time of arrest or referral to law enforcement
c. Charge (or charges)
d. Whether the individual(s) was arrested or referred to law enforcement
e. Sex of individual(s) arrested or referred to law enforcement
f. Age of individual(s) arrested or referred to law enforcement
g. Race of individual(s) arrested or referred to law enforcement
h. Ethnicity of individual(s) arrested or referred to law enforcement
i. Disability status of the individual(s) arrested or referred to law enforcement
j. Whether the individual arrested or referred to law enforcement is a student at the school.
k. Name of arresting officer, if applicable, and
l. Badge number of the arresting officer or the officer that referred the youth to law enforcement, as applicable.

2. If such an extract of the database in question 1 is not possible, please provide school incident reports on each school-related arrest and referral to law enforcement conducted during the 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 school year (up until the day the records are produced).

3. A copy of any active standard operating procedures developed with the police department and/or other law enforcement agencies regarding police placement or activity in your corresponding school; and,

4. Any records instructing or informing police personnel of, or otherwise describing data reporting requirements and procedures for complying with G.L. c. 71 § 37P(b).

5. The cost to the school district of assigning a school resource officer to each school; and,

6. The total number of school resource officers and total number of guidance counselors for each school in your district for school years 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and,

7. The total number and a brief description of 911 calls from schools in your district to local police departments conducted during the 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022, and,

8. A description of the proposed budget for mental, social, or emotional health support personnel for the school district.

As this request involves a matter of public interest and will not be used for any commercial purpose, we ask that all fees associated with this request be waived pursuant to 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2)(k). The purpose of this request is to determine whether your school district and police department are complying with their reporting obligations under the Criminal Justice Reform Act. “The public has an interest in knowing whether public servants are carrying out their duties in an efficient and law-abiding manner.”

It would be ill-advised to impose a fee for data that your school district may have failed to report in violation of statutory and regulatory duty. Moreover, as you know, municipalities with a population of over 20,000 may not assess a fee for the first 2 hours of time spent searching for, compiling, segregating, redacting and reproducing a requested record. Finally, pursuant to 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2)(i), a records access officer shall assess no fee greater than the lowest hourly rate of a person capable of compiling, segregating, redacting and reproducing a requested record. In the event that a charge is incurred for this request which you will not waive, please so indicate and include an itemization of estimated good faith costs.

Please provide public records to a requestor in an electronic format unless the record is not available in an electronic format. G.L.c. 66, § 6A(d).

The Public Records Act requires that you comply with this request within ten (10) business days following receipt. If you believe that documents or data responsive to any request herein is not public record and thus not subject to disclosure, please set forth in writing the specific reasons for such assertion, including the specific exemption or exemptions that you believe apply. To the extent that you determine that records need to be redacted in order to be produced under any law protecting the privacy of named individuals, please do so rather than withholding them in their entirety.

If you have any questions about this request, or need additional time to respond, please contact me by phone at (617)-373-5862 or by email at k.stathulis@northeastern.edu. Thank you in advance for your prompt response to this request.

Sincerely,

Katherine Stathulis, Esq.
Center for Public Interest, Advocacy, and Collaboration
Northeastern University School of Law

From: East Longmeadow Police Department

Good Morning,

We have received your request for specific data on school policing

The Department intends to redact some information requested due to the
applicability of the following exemption and the reasons set forth below:

Exemption (a): This exemption applies to records that are "specifically or
by necessary implication exempt from disclosure by statute."

CRIMINAL OFFENDER RECORD INFORMATION In particular, G.L. c. 6, sections
167-178B, and related regulations, requires that criminal justice agencies
withhold any records and data in any communicable form compiled by a
Massachusetts criminal justice agency which concern an identifiable
individual and relate to the nature or disposition of a criminal charge, an
arrest, a pre-trial proceeding, other judicial proceedings, previous
hearings conducted pursuant to section 58A of chapter 276 where the
defendant was detained prior to trial or released with conditions under
subsection (2) of section 58A of chapter 276, sentencing, incarceration,
rehabilitation, or release. Such information shall be restricted to that
recorded in criminal proceedings that are not dismissed before arraignment.
Criminal offender record information shall not include evaluative
information, statistical and analytical reports and files in which
individuals are not directly or indirectly identifiable, or intelligence
information. Criminal offender record information shall be limited to
information concerning persons who have attained the age of 18 and shall
not include any information concerning criminal offenses or acts of
delinquency committed by any person before he attained the age of 18;
provided, however, that if a person under the age of 18 is adjudicated as
an adult, information relating to such criminal offense shall be criminal
offender record information. Criminal offender record information shall not
include information concerning any offenses which are not punishable by
incarceration.

DOMESTIC ABUSE & SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES In particular, G.L. c. 41, section
97D requires law enforcement agencies to keep the following information
confidential. Section 97D provides that "All reports of rape and sexual
assault or attempts to commit such offenses, all reports of abuse
perpetrated by family or household members, as defined in section 1 of
chapter 209A, and all communications between police officers and victims of
such offenses or abuse shall not be public reports and shall be maintained
by the police departments in a manner that shall assure their
confidentiality; provided, however, that all such reports shall be
accessible at all reasonable times, upon written request, to: (i) the
victim, the victim's attorney, others specifically authorized by the victim
to obtain such information, prosecutors and (ii) victim-witness advocates
as defined in section 1 of chapter 258B, domestic violence victims'
counselors as defined in section 20K of chapter 233, sexual assault
counselors as defined in section 20J of chapter 233, if such access is
necessary in the performance of their duties; and provided further, that
all such reports shall be accessible at all reasonable times, upon written,
telephonic, facsimile or electronic mail request to law enforcement
officers, district attorneys or assistant district attorneys and all
persons authorized to admit persons to bail pursuant to section 57 of
chapter 276. Communications between police officers and victims of said
offenses and abuse may also be shared with the forgoing named persons if
such access is necessary in the performance of their duties. A violation of
this section shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 1 year or
by a fine of not more than $1,000, or both such fine and imprisonment.”

Please see my responses below in blue:

An extract of your records management system or database that includes each
school-related arrest and each referral to law enforcement conducted during
the 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 school year (up until
the day the records are produced). Specifically, we request an extract of
the database to include the following columns:
a. Date of arrest or referral to law enforcement
b. Time of arrest or referral to law enforcement
c. Charge (or charges)
d. Whether the individual(s) was arrested or referred to law enforcement
e. Sex of individual(s) arrested or referred to law enforcement
f. Age of individual(s) arrested or referred to law enforcement
g. Race of individual(s) arrested or referred to law enforcement
h. Ethnicity of individual(s) arrested or referred to law enforcement
i. Disability status of the individual(s) arrested or referred to law
enforcement
j. Whether the individual arrested or referred to law enforcement is a
student at the school.
k. Name of arresting officer, if applicable, and
l. Badge number of the arresting officer or the officer that referred the
youth to law enforcement, as applicable.

*For Date: 03/21/2022 - Monday*

*Call Number Time Call Reason*

*22-36891 0818 Initiated - Investigation/Follow Up*

Call Source: Initiated

Location/Address: [EAL 0000000001] MAPLE ST

Refer To Arrest: *22EAL-23-AR*

Arrest: ANDREWS, LEXY J

Address: 124 NORTH MAIN ST EAST LONGMEADOW, MA

Age: 18

Charges: A&B

WITNESS, INTIMIDATE

ROBBERY, UNARMED

3. A copy of any active standard operating procedures developed with the
police department and/or other law enforcement agencies regarding police
placement or activity in your corresponding school; and,

Attached

4. Any records instructing or informing police personnel of, or otherwise
describing data reporting requirements and procedures for complying with
G.L. c. 71 § 37P(b).

Attached

5. The cost to the school district of assigning a school resource officer
to each school; and,

Zero cost to the schools

6. The total number of school resource officers and total number of
guidance counselors for each school in your district for school years
2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and,

1 School Resource Officer

Number of School Guidance Counselors is information under the possession,
custody or control of the School Department.

7. The total number and a brief description of 911 calls from schools in
your district to local police departments conducted during the 2018-2019,
2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022, and,

2018 – 2019: 2 calls system testing, 14 abandoned 911 calls, 1 medical call

2019 – 2020: 1 call testing alarm. 2 suspicious activity, 16 abandoned 911
calls, 3 medical calls

2020 – 2021: 27 abandoned 911 calls, 3 fire alarm calls, 1 medical call, 1
mv complaint call

2021 – 2022: 2 fire alarm calls, 3 mv crash calls, 42 abandoned 911 calls;
1 disturbance call, 1 medical call, 1 animal complaint call

8. A description of the proposed budget for mental, social, or emotional
health support personnel for the school district.

These proposed budget items would be under the possession, custody and
control of the school department

Please be advised that pursuant to 950 CMR 32.00 and G.L. c. 66, section
10A(a) you have the right to appeal this decision to the Supervisor of
Public Records within 90 calendar days. Such appeal shall be in writing,
and shall include a copy of the letter by which the request was made and,
if available, a copy of the letter by which the custodian responded. The
Supervisor shall accept an appeal only from a person who had made his or
her record request in writing. Pursuant to G.L. c. 66, section 10A(c), you
also have the right to seek judicial review by commencing a civil action in
the superior court.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Lori Hall

East Longmeadow Police Department

Records

413 525-5440

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