Police Officers Living in Public Housing (New Bedford Police Department)

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

Dear Det. Lt. Holmes,

Thank you for your reply and clarifying question. I am interested in both city ordinances and collective bargaining agreements, to the extent that residency information may be contained in either of those types of records.

Thank you,
Josh