WBUR Sues Boston Police For Withholding Misconduct Records, Latest Suit Against City

WBUR is suing the Boston police department for refusing to turn over a list of investigations into police officer misconduct.

The lawsuit, filed this week, marks at least the fourth time Boston has been sued for withholding police records since acting Mayor Kim Janey was sworn into office in March.

Attorney General Maura Healey sued the police department on Aug. 12 after the department refused to release investigative records related to former commissioner Dennis White, who Janey fired in June after old allegations of domestic violence surfaced, to NBC10.

And the Boston Globe has sued the city twice in recent months. The newspaper sued the police department in April for withholding  certain records involving White, the former police commissioner, and Patrick Rose, a former union president and patrolman accused of molesting children. And the paper filed a broader lawsuit against the city earlier this month, asserting it failed to respond to more than two dozens requests for records.

"The Boston Police department unfortunately is a serial offender when it comes to ignoring or violating the public records law," said attorney Jeffrey Pyle, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of WBUR and Boston University, which holds  the broadcast license for WBUR. Pyle works for the Boston law firm Prince Lobel.

The WBUR lawsuit comes after the station filed a request in April for a list of the city's internal investigations against police officers — something the Boston police department has provided in the past under former mayors.

Government agencies are normally required to respond in writing to requests within 10 business days. But the suit says the Boston Police department has yet to respond to WBUR's request, even after the Secretary of State's office ordered it to do so in June.

"The issue of police officer misconduct is obviously an important one, especially since the events of last year," Pyle said. "The public records law requires a response and the production of this kind of record."

A spokesman for the Boston Police told a WBUR reporter in June that he had received the request, but did not plan to provide the records because it would be too time-consuming. He declined to comment on the lawsuit on Friday.

However, acting Mayor Janey announced plans on Thursday to add two additional people and fill a vacancy to help process public records requests so it can respond  more quickly.

"I strongly believe that public transparency is the foundation for building public trust and ensuring public accountability,” Janey said in a statement. "Too often, it takes too long to review and respond to public records requests."

Janey's office also said the city has fulfilled more than 80% of the 3,000 requests it received this year so far. But the Secretary of State's office has received roughly 170 complaints about the way the city responded to public records requests since January, including many from people who said the city never responded to their requests, according to records the agency publishes online.

Janey's refusal to release some police records has also become an issue in Boston's mayoral campaign.

Three of her rivals blasted her administration in early August for refusing to release more information after it found 13 officers committed domestic violence over the past decade. The city wouldn't provide the names or even say whether they still work for the department, citing a law intended to protect the confidentiality of victims.

And at a Boston city council meeting a week ago, Councilor Kenzie Bok criticized the Janey administration for failing to adequately respond to public records requests, even as people prepare to vote in this year's mayoral election. She said voters need the information for democracy to work.

"No one can hold their elected officials accountable for things they don't know about," Bok said. "So when information is kept from the public until after a local election, that literally breaks that accountability mechanism."

Bok also filed an order requesting data on how the city has handled requests since Janey became acting mayor.

Boston has also faced complaints about the way it handled public records requests prior to Janey taking office.

The city confirmed this week it paid $6,500 to civil rights attorney Howard Friedman's law firm in March to resolve a public records lawsuit. Under state law, requestors are generally entitled to recoup their legal fees when they win a public records lawsuit.