MA Bilingual Officers (Springfield Police Department)

Dear Adrien Salzberg:
The City of Springfield is in receipt of your public records request.
Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate department[s] and a response will be sent to you as soon as we have obtained and reviewed any document[s] that may be responsive to your request. Your request was received in this office on 9/14/2020 and given the reference number R002606-091420 for tracking purposes.
Pursuant to M.G.L. .c. 66, §10(b) the City has ten [10] business days to respond to your request.
Should you be aggrieved by this response, you may appeal to the Supervisor of Public Records in the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s Office pursuant to 950 CMR 32.00 and M.G.L. c. 66, §10(b).
You can monitor the progress of your request at the link below and you'll receive an email when your request has been completed. Thank you for using the Public Records Center.
The City of Springfield

--- Please respond above this line ---

RE: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of September 14, 2020, Reference # R002606-091420
Dear Adrien Salzberg,
This email is in response to your public records request to the City of Springfield for “To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

- Copies of all forms currently used by the department to evaluate an officer/candidate's ability to speak, read, and write languages other than English.

- Copies of department policy on interacting with deaf and hard of hearing individuals

- Copies of department policy related to American Sign Language, if any

- Copies of forms currently used by the department, if any, to evaluate an officer/candidate's knowledge of American Sign Language

- If there exists documentation, such as spreadsheets, of which officers are currently certified as speaking any second language (e.g. Spanish, Vietnamese,) please include this as well.

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,

Adrien Salzberg

Upload documents directly: https://https://www.muckrock.comhttps://www.muckrock.com/

Please be advised that the City is in receipt of your request. While the request is labor intensive we are working diligently. Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate department[s] and a response will be sent to you as soon as we have obtained and reviewed any document[s] that may be responsive to your request.
Should you be aggrieved by this response, you may appeal to the Supervisor of Public Records in the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s Office pursuant to 950 CMR 32.00 and M.G.L.c. 66, §10(b).

Please contact the Public Records Coordinator, AndreaL. Stone, by responding to this email with any questions. Please reference public recordsrequest #R002606-091420 in all correspondence regarding this request.
Sincerely,
Andrea L. Stone
Public Records Coordinator

Dear Adrien Salzberg:

I am writing on behalf of the City of Springfield to inform you that the above-reference public records request has been closed. In addition, your allotted time period to appeal has expired.

Please be advised that if desired you may submit a new request for the records that interest you.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Justin P. Morin
Paralegal
City of Springfield Law Department
36 Court Street, Room 210
Springfield, MA 01103
Main: (413)-787-6085
Direct: (413)-787-6550
Fax: (413)-787-6173
Email: jmorin@springfieldcityhall.com