• Featured
  • News
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • About
  • Call to Action
Menu

Bay State Examiner

P.O. Box 865
Hudson, MA
Phone Number
The Bay State Examiner
 

Bay State Examiner

  • Featured
  • News
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • About
  • Call to Action

Responding to say we responded with the response that we will respond

February 10, 2015 Maya
Chicopee City Hall

On January 5, I sent a records request to the Chicopee Police Department’s Records Officer Louis Vezina. Vezina acknowledged his receipt of the request by email on January 8. The 10-day window for the Chicopee police to respond was up on the 18. Officer Vezina said in his January 8 email that he sent my request off to the Facebook administrator Officer Mike Wilk. I never heard from Wilk and was never given his contact information, despite asking for it.

The City of Chicopee’s Associate Solicitor Christine Pikula sent me another acknowledgment on January 12, letting me know that they had my request and would coordinate with the police department to produce a response as soon as they could.

After the 10 days lapsed without a response, I reached out to Vezina, asking him if the overdue request had been addressed. Despite his job as Records Officer, Vezina claimed he was not involved and that I had to speak with Wilk. I pointed out that he had not provided any contact information for Wilk, to which Vezina did not respond.

I reached out to the official Facebook account for the Chicopee police and was directed to the City Solicitor, so I requested an update on the status of my overdue request from Associate City Solicitor Pikula. Pikula returned a uniquely ridiculous letter claiming that her acknowledgment was in fact a response meaning my records request was not overdue and that their official response is that they will respond.

“Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 66 s.10, the City did provide a response to you within ten (10) days of your request, and your request is not overdue. As indicated in my letter of January 12, 2015, we are reviewing your request with the appropriate departments and will get a response to you as soon as we can,” she wrote.

Pikula cites the public records law in her letter but has failed to comply with it. The claim that her earlier acknowledgment letter constitutes a records request response is false. According to the guide on the Massachusetts Public Record Law put out by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, “The records custodian must respond to requests as soon as practicable, without unreasonable delay and within ten calendar days. The response must be either an offer to provide the requested materials or a written denial” (emphasis added).

The January 12 email attachment from Pikula neither offered to provide me with the requested records nor denied my request and as such it does not constitute a response.

28 days after the request was acknowledged, Pikula finally responded. I have appealed to the Supervisor of Records, asking that she and the Chicopee police be retrained on compliance with the records law since they obviously don't understand it.

In News, Investigative Tags Chicopee MA, Chicopee Police Department, Public Records Law, Supervisor of Records
← Lowell refuses to release records related to woman's death in police custodyCop Block founder settles lawsuit with Greenfield police over 2010 "wiretapping" arrest →

Sponsored Content

TWITTER

  • Bay State Examiner
    To our readers and followers thank you, and for at least a while - goodbye. It has been an honor. https://t.co/mzXcevgqqC
    about 2 years ago
  • Bay State Examiner
    .@SPD_HQ detective caught on video threatening to murder teens and plant drugs; won't be fired or charged. https://t.co/KqkS7NgSUr #mapoli
    about 2 years ago
  • Bay State Examiner
    RT @Andrew_BSE: If you win, you get a lifetime supply of bitterness about the #MAPublicRecords law and might be quoted in a story. https://t.co/eBvGEce4i7
    about 2 years ago
  • June 2016 2
  • May 2016 3
  • April 2016 1
  • March 2016 3
  • February 2016 5
  • January 2016 6
  • December 2015 2
  • November 2015 2
  • October 2015 1
  • September 2015 3
  • August 2015 5
  • July 2015 12
  • June 2015 12
  • May 2015 7
  • April 2015 12
  • March 2015 20
  • February 2015 16
  • January 2015 14
  • December 2014 18
  • November 2014 24
  • October 2014 15
  • September 2014 12
  • August 2014 14
  • July 2014 35
  • June 2014 28
  • May 2014 22
  • April 2014 7
  • March 2014 10
  • February 2014 11
  • January 2014 1
  • December 2013 2
  • Blog 33
  • Cartoon 1
  • Featured 109
  • Interview 5
  • Investigative 12
  • News 221
  • Photos 4
  • Sidestory 7
  • Videos 29

Sponsored Content

© 2015, The Bay State Examiner