High Tech Crime Consortium ListServ (Massachusetts State Police)

Good Afternoon Ms. Best,

The Massachusetts Department of State Police ("Department") is in receipt of your request dated August 10, 2020 seeking the following:

"Copies of emails sent to, from, or through the High Tech Crime Consortium ListServ. The emails may be identified by having one or more of the following:

· A sender with a display name of either "High Tech Crime Consortium Listserv" or "High Tech Crime Consortium"

· A subject containing either "HTCC" or "[HTCC]"

· Sent to or from an email address containing "htcc" or hightechcrimecops.org

You may limit this request to records generated between April 1, 1998 and the date of the processing of this request."

The Department considers your request as a submission pursuant to G.L. c. 66, §10, the Massachusetts Public Records Law. Given the scope of your request, the Department is assessing a fee estimate for costs associated with a response for your request.

The Department has consulted with the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS), which drafted specific search terms to facilitate a response to requests for "[c]opies of emails sent to, from, or through the High Tech Crime Consortium ListServ" for the date range requested. The Department, through (EOTSS), conducted a preliminary search of emails for emails containing the following, subject: "HTCC" OR subject:"[HTCC]" OR from: "High Tech Crime Consortium" OR participants:"htcc" OR participants:hightechcrimecops.org(c:c). Per your request, this search was limited to emails generated between April 1, 1998 and August 10, 2020. This search resulted in approximately 7,300 emails which may contain a phrase for which you have requested records. Staff would be required to review each of these emails, and any attached documents, individually in order to determine whether the context of these phrases within those records made them responsive to your request.

The Massachusetts State Police is a law enforcement agency with various missions ranging from public safety and criminal justice, to homeland security and emergency preparedness, a large percentage of Department records may relate to highly sensitive matters. Further, given the Massachusetts State Police's collaboration with other state and federal agencies on criminal investigations and other matters regarding state and national security, the resulting records undoubtedly contain privileged and exempt information such as intelligence and investigative data, personnel, private, and security related information, as well as information related solely to internal personnel rules and practices of government necessary to withhold to ensure the proper performance of the Massachusetts State Police. These categories of information are specifically exempt pursuant to G.L. c. 4, § 7, cl. 26 (a), (b), (c), (f), and/or (n) and are not subject to public disclosure. Accordingly, the information must be segregated and redacted from the records before the records are produced to a third party such as the requestor. As a state agency with the responsibility for maintaining extensive confidential information, the Massachusetts State Police has an obligation to ensure proper procedures are maintained to prevent the dissemination of information which is protected from disclosure by law. Fulfilling such an obligation requires a careful review and segregation of records intended for disclosure. As you are no doubt aware, segregation and redaction of records, including email messages, often involves the application of multiple exemptions to the public records law to a single email or a single paragraph or sentence within an email. Some information is simultaneously protected by more than one exemption or different exemptions depending on context or the time of disclosure. Moreover, a review of each of these emails and documents would be required to determine if an exemption applies.

The labor associated with researching, reviewing, and gathering this voluminous amount of information would be extremely costly, time-consuming, and burdensome. As you know, the Department may, pursuant to 950 CMR 32.07, assess a fee to individuals whose request would impose a significant cost on public agencies. The fees assessment is imposed to defray the cost of researching, gathering, and reviewing Department documents that may be responsive to a request.

Given that there are approximately 7,300 potentially responsive emails that the Department must review and redact, this will impose an onerous burden on the Department, which will have to devote limited resources to review and redact these records.

Given the volume of information requiring review, the Department's good faith estimate of cost amounts to $9,025. This amount is based upon the following: the Department will be required to review each of the approximately 7,300 email. The Department estimates, conservatively and in good faith, that it will expend an average of 3 minutes to review each email. Accordingly, the good faith estimate for reviewing emails is calculated at (3min x 7,300 equals 21,900 minutes/60 minutes equals 365 hours - 4 gratis hours=361 hours) at a rate of $25 per hour resulting in a total cost of $9,025.

This estimate represents an actual and good faith representation. The cost is necessary, reasonable, and not designed to limit, deter, or prevent access to requested public records. The Department has filed, in an abundance of caution, a fee petition with the Supervisor of Public Records.

Please let me know if you want to move forward with your request. Upon receipt of a check in the above referenced amount the Department will commence a search of the requested information. Be aware that given the amount of information being requested, the Department cannot project a timetable as to when the Department can complete this research.

If you have any questions or concerns, or if you wish to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate to contact me directly. If you wish to challenge any aspect of this response, you may appeal to the Supervisor of Public Records as set forth in 950 C.M.R. 32.08, a copy of which is available at http://www.mass.gov/courts/case-legal-res/law-lib/laws-by-source/cmr/. You may also file a civil action in accordance with M.G.L. c. 66, § 10A.

Respectfully,

Joshua D. Reilly
Staff Counsel
Office of Chief Legal Counsel
Massachusetts State Police
470 Worcester Road
Framingham, MA 01702
Tel: 508-988-7426
[cid:image001.png@01D677C5.C2938A00]
The preceding email message (including any attachments) contains information that may be confidential, may be protected by the attorney-client or other applicable privileges, or may constitute non-public information. It is intended to be conveyed only to the designated recipient(s) named above. If you are not an intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender by replying to this message and then delete all copies of it from your computer system. Any use, dissemination, distribution, or reproduction of this message by unintended recipients is not authorized and may be unlawful.

To Supervisor -

Good Afternoon,

The Department of State Police ("The Department") received a public records request from Ms. Emma Best via Muckrock dated August 10, 2020. After reviewing the request the Department responded with the attached fee petition. This petition was emailed to Ms. Best via Muckrock today. The Department respectfully requests that the Supervisor allow this petition. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Respectfully,

Joshua D. Reilly
Staff Counsel
Office of Chief Legal Counsel
Massachusetts State Police
470 Worcester Road
Framingham, MA 01702
Tel: 508-988-7426
[cid:image001.png@01D677C3.E8251240]
The preceding email message (including any attachments) contains information that may be confidential, may be protected by the attorney-client or other applicable privileges, or may constitute non-public information. It is intended to be conveyed only to the designated recipient(s) named above. If you are not an intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender by replying to this message and then delete all copies of it from your computer system. Any use, dissemination, distribution, or reproduction of this message by unintended recipients is not authorized and may be unlawful.

Hello,

Please be aware, the Supervisor of Records has issued a determination relating to a petition in which you were involved. This determination is attached, and available online at: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/AppealsWeb/AppealsStatus.aspx.

If you have any questions, please contact the Public Records Division at 617-727-2832 or pre@sec.state.ma.us<mailto:pre@sec.state.ma.us>.

Thank you,

Robert Hyland
Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth
Public Records Division
One Ashburton Place, Room 1719
Boston, MA 02108
617-727-2832