Members of the Worcester City Council are divided over the idea of a police civilian oversight board.
On Tuesday, the Worcester Regional Research Bureau (WRRB) released a report endorsing the creation of such a board, saying it was “overdue.”
City Manager Eric Batista requested the study from the WRRB following the release of a scathing report from the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2024. The DOJ’s report singled out Worcester officers for their use of excessive force, their disproportionate targeting of Black and Hispanic people, and for performing unwanted sexual acts with people in undercover operations.
Following the WRRB’s announcement Oct. 14, Batista said he would prepare his own report on the matter for the city council to review.
Whether a majority of the 11 council members will vote for an oversight board remains a question.
Councilor-at-Large and Chair of the Public Safety Committee Kathleen Toomey told MassLive this week she would review the report “thoroughly” but said she doesn’t think the board is necessary.
“I maintain that the state’s POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) program has worked well, in addition to our own BOPS (Bureau of Professional Standards), Diversity Equity and Inclusion Department Human Rights Commission, random body camera audits, policy review committee and accreditation process providing transparency in a number of different ways,” Toomey said. “I have not supported a local civilian review board in the past and do not think it is necessary with all that has been enacted over the past few years.”
Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty also signaled reservations about an oversight board during GBH’s mayoral debate on Thursday.
Asked by reporter Sam Turken about WRRB’s report, Petty, like Toomey, said he would review its contents but expressed concern that a civilian oversight board would undermine Worcester’s police chief, Paul Saucier.
“I haven’t digested the report yet,” Petty said, “I’m going to still look at that report. I owe that to the people and make sure everybody gets a fair hearing and see what we’re going to do.”
Council Vice Chair and City Councilor-at-Large Khrystian King, who is running for mayor against Petty this year, told MassLive during an apartment groundbreaking on Wednesday that he supports a civilian oversight board.
King has repeatedly called for the establishment of a civilian oversight board — namely one with the power to subpoena records related to the Worcester Police Department.
During the GBH debate, King said the creation of a civilian oversight board is not to punish members of the Worcester Police Department.
“I’m looking for a public process,” King told MassLive. “I’m looking for folks to really get in a room and have an honest dialogue about how to make public safety more effective.”
District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj, who was also at Wednesday’s groundbreaking, told MassLive she would also vote in favor of an oversight board.
The councilor said she read the report and added she was excited for the council to debate the matter. She said the Human Rights Commission, one of the city’s oversight committees, does not have subpoena power to effectively do its job.
“I think this (the oversight board) is a good layer of oversight for the community,” Haxhiaj said.
The report recommends the board, if established, have authority to investigate and review cases, be given the power to subpoena documents and have access to police data systems, along with other recommendations to conduct oversight.
“Civilian oversight does not by itself guarantee changes in problematic practices; however, it ensures that violations of law or residents’ rights are brought into the open, creating an essential layer of accountability, transparency, and democratic governance,” the report reads.
The report states that Worcester would benefit from local oversight and said there are limits on what the state’s POST commission can do to conduct oversight.
“Although the POST Commission plays a key role in raising the baseline for police accountability statewide, it was never designed to replace local oversight,” the report reads. “It does not regularly audit how departments handle complaints or investigate their own officers, nor does it assess whether misconduct cases are investigated thoroughly or dismissed prematurely, nor can it consider or investigate complaints of rudeness or discourtesy that individuals might experience.”
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