IMPORTANT!
Massachusetts Public Records Law allows us 10 business days to respond to records requests. For complex requests, this initial response may be a fee estimate only, with another 15 business days after payment allotted to provide records. Therefore, especially if requesting by mail, it is advisable to allow at least 30 days for the entire process.
Please plan accordingly! Thank you.
RECORDS ACCESS OFFICER
Jennifer Messina,
Town Clerk
334 Main Street Great Barrington, MA 01230
Phone: 413-528-1619 ext. 2100
Fax: 413-528-1026
Email: jmessina@townofgb.org
- All requests are subject to approval by the Chief of Police
- GBPD complies with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Public Records Law (M.G.L. c. 4, § 7)
- Records may be requested in person, via USPS mail, or email. We are not required by law to fulfill telephone requests.
- We release records considered public, while applying exemptions allowed by law to protect personal privacy and public safety; therefore your request may be denied or some information may be redacted
- Exempted material may include, but not be limited to:
- Cases under investigation
- Criminal records protected by CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) statute
- Cases involving juveniles (under age 18)
- Information indicating the ownership or location of firearms
- Information regarding an individual’s health issues (HIPAA)
- Confidential witness, victim, or informant data
- Social Security numbers, dates of birth, phone numbers, etc. of involved parties
- Information which could compromise public safety or effective law enforcement
Requesting your Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI)
The Great Barrington Police Department cannot provide you with your Criminal Record Request Information (CORI). If you need a copy of your CORI, you must complete a CORI request form and mail it to the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services, 200 Arlington Street, Suite 2200, Chelsea, MA 02150. To obtain someone else’s CORI, please visit the Department of Criminal Justice Information website.
POLICE REPORTS & LOGS
Log Entries
The majority of our calls for service do not generate a written report, but are simply an entry in our logs.
- Our daily logs are public information (with legal exemptions). Single, public log entries (for example, “The animal call at 8PM last night on Cottage Street) or all public log entries within a contiguous, reasonable time span (for example, “Last Monday between 10AM and 4PM”), may be reviewed at GBPD free of charge by coming to the station and requesting to view them. Please allow our staff time to run a computer search and print the logs.
- Any logs we make immediately available for public review remain in the station at all times
- Complex requests for multiple entries – for example, those occurring at different dates and times, a request for all entries pertaining to specific individuals or incidents, all entries for a particular address, and any other requests requiring extensive search, legal review/redaction, etc. – are subject to the ten business day work time allotted by Mass. Public Records Law.
Incident, Arrest, & Accident Reports*
Major incidents, reportable accidents, and all arrests generate a written report, which may be requested from the Records Access Officer.
- Reports are requested by submitting a completed report request form to the Town Clerk.
- Requests may take up to 10 business days to process
- All requests are subject to approval by the Chief of Police
- If approved, the report you receive may have some information redacted (see Records Release Policy, above)
- With some exceptions, a fee set by Massachusetts law is charged for reports
ACCIDENT REPORTS
If a Great Barrington Police Officer responded to a vehicle crash in the town of Great Barrington, and there was either a report of personal injury or damage in excess of $1000, the police officer would have completed a Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicle Crash Report.
If you need a copy of the crash report that WE completed, you can either obtain that in our Records Office or you can access and print the crash report from CrashDocs.org
Please Note:
**If the damage was under $1,000, the crash is documented via a call entry only, vs a full Crash Report. Copies of the call entry are available from our Records Office, but not available online**
