Massachusetts State Police cruiser

(Don Treeger | The Republican)

The awards speech has long been its own genre of performance; teary, overlong, hurried to its ending by insistent orchestral music.

The Massachusetts State Police's reaction to winning Investigative Reporters and Editors' 2015 Golden Padlock Award was more direct.

"We have no comment on that," a spokesman said Monday morning.

It is an apropos response; the Golden Padlock award is, in the words of IRE President David Cay Johnston, a sardonic celebration of "the dedication of government officials working tirelessly to keep vital information hidden from the public."

The state police won the award for what IRE described as habitual obstructions of public record law. While state law requires that agencies respond to records requests within 10 days, state police regularly take months, according to IRE. And the agency has made full use of provisions allowing agencies to charge for labor costs when searching for records, issuing fees that stretch into the tens of thousands of dollars.

State police told the Boston Globe it would cost $62,200 to produce records of police cruiser crashes, and $42,750 to obtain a log of its public record requests. The agency also attempted to charge the Bay State Examiner $710.50 to estimate the fee for a records request.

That case in particular is highly unusual; state agencies are required to provide cost estimates for record requests, and there is no provision in the law that allows them to charge for that estimate. The law allows agencies to charge for the searching, redacting, photocopying and filing of records.

Massachusetts' public records law allows media and members of the public to request government documents and communications, with a list of exemptions that includes private information, some personnel files and ongoing investigations, among others.

The law has come under scrutiny in recent years, with government reform groups and media organizations criticizing high fees, long response times and loose enforcement. Last month, advocates testified on Beacon Hill about the shortcomings of the current law.

A Boston Globe investigation found last year that the Secretary of State's office, which hears appeals of public records requests, does not enforce its orders against agencies, requiring requesters to go to court. Those legal fights can cost tens of thousands of dollars, placing them beyond the reach of many private citizens and local media organizations.

The Massachusetts State Police beat out the Colorado Judicial Branch, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the U.S. Department of Defense to take home IRE's prize for the most secretive U.S. agency or person.

"True commitment, no matter how offensive to the public interest, must be begrudgingly recognized," said Robert Cribb, chair of IRE's Golden Padlock committee. "The Massachusetts State Police has distinguished itself as a agency unwavering in its willingness to ensure citizens are protected from the truth."

IRE, a nonprofit which promotes investigative reporting, invited a representative from the state police to receive the award. No one responded, they said.