Tewksbury, MA ALPR

Shawn Musgrave filed this request with the Tewksbury Police Department of Tewksbury, MA.
Est. Completion None
Status
Partially Completed

Communications

From: Shawn Musgrave

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the state Freedom of Information Act, G.L.M. c.66, ยง10, I hereby request the following records:

All documents relating to usage of Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) technology by Tewksbury Police Department, including but not limited to documents indicating:

-scope of ALPR deployment;
-purposes for which ALPR technology is employed;
-means of handling and storing ALPR data;
-extent and timeline for ALPR data storage; and
-protocols and extent of ALPR data sharing between TPD and other government agencies.

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 fees cannot be waived, 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,

Shawn Musgrave

From: John Voto

Mr. Musgrave, first thing is that the statute you quoted the freedom of information is a statute that applies to federal records only. The Massachusetts Public Record Law applies to records created by a state or local agency..

Also I want to remind you that the law only applies to records that are in existence and created or maintained in the usual of course of business. Meaning that we are not required to answer or create a record in response to a request..

You will be charged 50 cents per page for computer print outs.

Currently we only have 1 ALPR deployed in one cruiser out of 12 Patrol cars.
The purpose for employment is traffic enforcement.
Means of storing and handling ALRP data and time line - I will not be providing this information because I believe this information is related solely to internal personnel rules and practice of the government unit, provided however, that such records shall be withheld only to the extent that proper performance of necessary governmental functions requires such holding. (Exemption B , Massachusetts Public Record Law)
Also we do not share our Data with any other Police agencies.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to call me.

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