Feds are reversing many investigations into police, but Worcester remains for now
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on May 21 it would close investigations into and retract the Biden administration's findings of constitutional violations of five police departments.
One department not included in the announcement was the Worcester Police Department (WPD), which was subject to a DOJ investigation beginning in 2022.
A report covering the investigation revealed that officers engaged in acts of excessive force and engaged in unwanted sexual contact with women during undercover operations
A spokesperson for Worcester City Manager Eric D. Batista told MassLive there have been no discussions between the DOJ and the city about the investigation since January.
Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty also confirmed the DOJ had not reached out to his office.
Petty told MassLive on Wednesday that the City Council is waiting for a status report from Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier about the department's progress in implementing recommendations from the report.
The mayor acknowledged that tensions in the city have been high due to the police report and the arrest of a Brazilian mother of three on May 8 made by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Worcester Police Officers arrived on the scene following the arrest of a Brazilian mother of three children to 'keep the peace,' according to one officer who was at the scene. The officers arrested the 17-year-old daughter of the mother and a school committee candidate, who was later disqualified from the ballot, on separate charges.
Many Worcester residents have criticized the actions of the officers on May 8, with some accusing WPD of collaborating with ICE. Batista issued an executive order on May 16 stating that Worcester police would not inquire about a person's immigration status and further clarifying Worcester's policy on interaction with ICE.
Petty said it is important for the community to come together.
'We will need to listen to the community's concerns and work collaboratively to get through these tough times together,' Petty said. 'I am hopeful that mending trust will be possible, but I know that it will take time.'
The DOJ announced that it would retract its findings of constitutional violations in the police departments of Phoenix, Arizona; Trenton, New Jersey; Memphis, Tennessee; Mount Vernon, New York; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The department also announced the constitutional violation findings of the Louisiana State Police would also be retracted. All of these findings were from investigations released under former President Joe Biden's administration.
The findings of the investigation into the WPD remain intact, according to a spokesperson for Leah Foley, the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.
'As it currently stands, nothing has changed with the status of the findings report,' the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson did not provide further explanation as to why Worcester's findings would not be rescinded.
Additionally, the DOJ revealed its plans to reverse its proposed consent decrees for the police departments in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Louisville, Kentucky.
'Over-broad police consent decrees divest local control of policing from communities where it belongs, turning that power over to unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats, often with an anti-police agenda,' Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said in a press release. 'Today, we are ending the Biden Civil Rights Division's failed experiment of handcuffing local leaders and police departments with factually unjustified consent decrees.'
The findings of the DOJ report into the WPD found that officers engaged in acts of excessive force, including using stun guns, deploying police dogs and striking people in the head without justification.
Worcester police's enforcement of activities also disproportionately affects Black and Hispanic people, the report reads.
Additionally, the report found that multiple women told the department investigators that the department's police officers engaged in unwanted sexual acts with them during undercover operations, took advantage of them sexually in vulnerable situations and threatened arrest if they did not perform sex acts.
The DOJ report featured 19 recommendations for changes it believes WPD should install to remedy its excessive force and inappropriate sexual conduct problems. These suggestions include improving the department's use of force and escalation standards to 'a complete prohibition on engaging in sexual contact for law enforcement purposes.'
The findings of the DOJ report have led some Worcester residents to demand more oversight of the department—namely, through the creation of a civilian review board.
In a communication to the City Council on March 4, Batista wrote that, following discussions with the Worcester Regional Research Bureau, the bureau would conduct an independent review and create a research report on civilian review boards. A report on the topic is expected to be unveiled in late spring.
During a city council meeting in March, the council inquired with Police Chief Saucier about specific details in the DOJ report and the revisions to police policies made in the wake of the report's release.
Some of these changes include prohibiting the deployment of police dogs at mass gatherings or riot scenes and requiring that WPD officers can only conduct enforcement without having a subject of an investigation enter a vehicle.
Despite these changes, the police department has criticized the report, saying in an April 16 press release that it was filled with 'mistakes and mischaracterizations.'
Worcester's police unions have also slammed the report.
The Patrol Officers' Union, New England Police Benevolent Association Local 911, which represents Worcester's police patrol officers, stated that the report 'relies heavily on anecdotal accounts from individuals who are not named and who have had negative experiences with the WPD.'
'The experiences of these women are important and should be investigated,' the union said. 'The DOJ report, however, simply relies on the narrative provided apparently without any investigation of countervailing evidence. The DOJ referenced how the WPD took action in the past when it was brought to their attention that an officer had allegedly committed a sex crime. The WPD took immediate action and conducted a criminal investigation that resulted in a felony conviction.'
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