In a letter addressed to Town Manager, Elaine Lazarus and the Hopkinton Select Board, the Hopkinton Police Department responded to public comments at a recent Select Board meeting that accused the Police Department of intentionally withholding information related to Petros Sismanis.
The letter addressing the public comments states; “At the Nov. 4 Select Board meeting, several public comments included claims that the Police Department has intentionally withheld information related to Petros Sismanis. These comments contained inaccurate and misleading statements that have circulated for some time, which are addressed herein.”
“Massachusetts has a unique records restriction law referred to as The Domestic Violence Act of 2014. The Jan. 12, 2023, incident involving Mr. Sismanis was properly documented in the Hopkinton Police Department’s internal log as required by the law, specifically Massachusetts General Law Chapter 41, Section 98F. The same law mandates that certain incidents — including those involving domestic violence, rape or sexual assault — be withheld from the publicly posted daily log. The law states that these “entries shall be kept in a separate log and shall not be a public record, nor shall such entries be disclosed to the public.” Plainly, this statue advances an important public policy of preserving the privacy of victims of certain events.”
View the entire letter from Deputy Chief Scott van Raalten addressing the public comments to the Select Board below. The letter will be part of the Select Board packet for their next meeting.