BOSTON (WHDH) - The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Boston Police Department and the city Wednesday demanding information regarding police use of force against, and surveillance of, people in Massachusetts.
The new lawsuit is in response to what the ACLU calls a longstanding pattern of delay that violates the Massachusetts Public Records Law, which generally requires municipalities to produce responsive records within 10 business days of a request.
According to the release, BPD and the city of Boston have repeatedly failed to produce records weeks and months past deadlines without meaningfully engaging requesters about the existence of the records, their efforts to obtain them, or alternative production schedules.
The union said that over the last 17 months, they and their clients have submitted nine public records requests related to BPD practices and potential city communications with federal law enforcement.
All nine requests are said to be well past-due—including four that have been pending for seven months or more.
“Transparency is at the heart of accountability,” said Matthew Segal, legal director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. “The public has the right to know what the police are doing in their name and with their tax dollars. Indeed, this information has taken on new urgency in the wake of nationwide protests against police violence and statewide conversations about police reform.”
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