Public Records Request for Data on School Policing (Tynsborough Police Department, Tynsborough)
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| Multi Request | Public Records Request for Data on School Policing |
| Submitted | Jan. 11, 2024 |
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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: Tynsborough Police Department, Tynsborough
To Whom It May Concern,
The Tyngsborough Police Department intends to produce records responsive to
your request dated January 16, 2024. However, the Department may require
additional time beyond the 10 business days allotted under the law in order
to respond to this request as the magnitude of the request unduly burdens
the other responsibilities of the department. As a result, the
Department will produce the requested records as soon as possible but
within 25 days following the initial receipt of your request, which
represents a reasonable timeframe under the law. If I can be of further
assistance or answer any questions you await the responsive records please
do not hesitate to contact me at this email address or at my office phone
number 978-649-7504 ext 101.
Respectfully,
Shaun Woods
--
<http://tyngsboroughma.gov/>
<http://tyngsboroughma.gov/>
Shaun M. Woods
Deputy Chief of Police
Town of Tyngsborough
978-649-2300 x 101 | tyngsboroughma.gov
20 Westford Road, Tyngsborough MA 01879
[image: https://www.facebook.com/TyngsboroughPolice]
<https://www.facebook.com/TyngsboroughPolice>
<https://www.linkedin.com/company/town-of-tyngsborough/> [image:
https://twitter.com/TyngsboroughPD] <https://twitter.com/TyngsboroughPD>
In Massachusetts, the term “public record” is broadly defined to include
all documentary materials or data created or received by any officer or
employee of any governmental unit, regardless of physical form or
characteristics, unless it falls under one of the statutory exemptions to
the Public Records Law. G.L.c. 4, 7(26). Consequently, email is subject to
the disclosure, retention, and maintenance provisions as required by law.
G.L.c. 66
From: Meghan Leong
Hello Shaun,
On behalf of Katherine, thank you for your response. No worries, please take the time to compile the requested documents. We will expect your response the week of February 10, 2024.
Thank you,
Meghan Leong
Center for Public Interest, Advocacy, and Collaboration
Northeastern University School of Law
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm following up on the following Massachusetts Public Records Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 16, 2024. You had previously indicated that it would be completed on Feb. 10, 2024. I wanted to check on the status of my request, and to see if there was a new estimated completion date.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Tynsborough Police Department, Tynsborough
Katherine and Meghan,
Attached you will find responsive documents related to your record request regarding the Tyngsborough Police Department and Tyngsborough Public School District School Resource Officer Program. If you have any questions or concerns please contact me anytime at swoods@tyngsboroughma.gov or by phone at 978-732-3029.
Respectfully,
Shaun Woods
From: Tynsborough Police Department, Tynsborough
Katherine and Meghan,
I have submitted all responsive documents directly to the muckrock portal
for review. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate
to contact me.
Respectfully,
Shaun Woods
--
<http://tyngsboroughma.gov/>
<http://tyngsboroughma.gov/>
Shaun M. Woods
Deputy Chief of Police
Town of Tyngsborough
978-649-7504 x 101 | tyngsboroughma.gov
978-732-3029 cell
20 Westford Road, Tyngsborough MA 01879
[image: https://www.facebook.com/TyngsboroughPolice]
<https://www.facebook.com/TyngsboroughPolice>
<https://www.linkedin.com/company/town-of-tyngsborough/> [image:
https://twitter.com/TyngsboroughPD] <https://twitter.com/TyngsboroughPD>
In Massachusetts, the term “public record” is broadly defined to include
all documentary materials or data created or received by any officer or
employee of any governmental unit, regardless of physical form or
characteristics, unless it falls under one of the statutory exemptions to
the Public Records Law. G.L.c. 4, 7(26). Consequently, email is subject to
the disclosure, retention, and maintenance provisions as required by law.
G.L.c. 66
From: Meghan Leong
Hello Shaun,
Thank you so much for sending the requested documents, we really appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Meghan Leong
Center for Public Interest, Advocacy, and Collaboration
Northeastern University School of Law
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