a. Rules for active investigations.

The Supreme Judicial Court has stated that there is no blanket exemption to public disclosure for investigatory materials; an exemption must be determined on a case-by-case basis.  Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp. v. Chief of Police of Worcester, 436 Mass. 378, 383-84 (2002).  Where the exemption applies, it must be narrowly construed so as to allow redaction only “of the names and addresses of witnesses and victims or to remove information on the record which if released, will so prejudice the possibility of effective law enforcement that such disclosure would not be in the public interest.”  SPR Bulletin No. 3-03, “Public Record Requests and C.O.R.I.” (Sec’y of State, Nov. 21,  2003), at 4.

See also Republican Co. v. Appeals Court, 442 Mass. 218, 223 n.9, 812 N.E.2d 887, 893  n.9 (2004) (Public Records Law exception for investigatory materials is irrelevant to public right of access to materials submitted to court in support of petition for search warrant).  

Nevertheless, the same court noted in Harvard Crimson, Inc. v. President And Fellows Of Harvard Coll., 445 Mass. 745, 755, 840 N.E.2d 518, 525 (2006), that under G.L. c. 4, § 7, cl. 26(f ), public records do not include “investigatory materials necessarily compiled out of the public view by law enforcement or other investigatory officials[,] the disclosure of which materials would probably so prejudice the possibility of effective law enforcement that such disclosure would not be in the public interest.” Such non-public materials, the court said, could include “accounts of police investigatory efforts including the police officer's own observations of the incident in question, statements taken from witnesses, additional information obtained from other sources, some confidential, and leads and tips to be pursued,” quoting Bougas v. Chief of Police of Lexington, 371 Mass. 59, 62, 354 N.E.2d 872 (1976). Moreover, the Supreme Judicial Court concluded: “The exemption set forth in G.L. c. 4, § 7, cl. 26(f), applies to both open and closed investigations. See id. at 63, 354 N.E.2d 872. Contrast Matter of a Subpoena Duces Tecum, 445 Mass. 685, 689-691, 840 N.E.2d 470 (2006).”  445 Mass. at 755.