Worcester elected officials and the Worcester NAACP on Tuesday reacted with outrage and concern over the findings of a Department of Justice report into the Worcester Police Department that found officers used excessive force, engaged in discriminating practices and engaged in sexual misconduct.
But some were also angry that the only initial response on behalf of the city came from former federal prosecutor Brian T. Kelly, who represents Worcester as an attorney — who wrote in a statement that the DOJ‘s report was “unfair, inaccurate and biased” and said it smears the whole police force.
Fred Taylor, the president of the Worcester NAACP, said it was “painful” reading that response and that he and others were angry at the way the statement was “rejecting and dismissing” the DOJ report.
“For years, residents of Worcester, and the NAACP have expressed concerns about the police department’s activities and practices and for years we have been calling for a civilian review board with subpoena power as one of the solutions,” Taylor wrote.
The DOJ’s 41-page report released on Dec. 9 found that WPD used “excessive force, including unjustified uses of Tasers, police dogs and strikes to the head. Officers rapidly escalated minor incidents by using more force than necessary, including during encounters with people who have behavioral health disabilities or are in crisis,” according to the office of U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy.
The report also found that WPD allowed officers to “engage in outrageous government conduct and violate the constitutional rights of women suspected of being involved in the commercial sex trade by engaging in sexual contact while undercover as part of official investigations,” Levy’s office said.
City Manager Eric D. Batista did not comment on the report on Monday or for most of the day Tuesday, releasing a statement shortly after 4 p.m. on Tuesday announcing several initiatives, including the the establishment of a hotline for members of the public to report misconduct by police officers.
Worcester police on Monday referred MassLive to Kelly’s statement.
In a post on X, formally known as Twitter, District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj wrote that she was “sick” over reading the DOJ report. She also slammed the Kelly’s response and questioned why he was allowed to undermine and dismiss the report.
“Let me make clear. He doesn’t speak for me,” Haxhiaj wrote. “I don’t know why he’s allowed to speak for the City, the City Manager or the Interim Chief of Police. I have a lot of questions and those of you who have reached out do, too.”
In 2022, Haxhiaj and and Nguyen, along with then-District 4 Councilor Sarai Rivera, then-School Committee Member Tracy O’Connell Novick, and School Committee Member Sue Mailman released a joint statement asking for accountability and justice for those who came forward with allegations against St. John’s food program former director William ‘Billy’ Riley, who was accused of forcing vulnerable women to perform sex acts with him.
Mailman told MassLive that she was angered that the first public response she saw from the city following the DOJ’s report was from the outside counsel.
”I’d like to know who from the city approved that statement,” Mailman said.
‘Accountability is essential’
Worcester City Councilor-at Large Thu Nguyen released a statement to MassLive that said they were “outraged and disgusted” by the report.
“As a City Councilor At-Large raised in Worcester, I have seen the WPD and the administration try to do better, talk about community policing, and I will say I do not have faith nor believe this is enough,” Nguyen said.
In Nguyen’s statement, the city councilor asked that the DOJ and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Massachusetts move forward to push the city of Worcester and obtain a consent decree that would legally bind the city to make changes within the police department, and set measurable goals for improvement.
“We need to ensure that our administration and WPD take the violation of the Constitution, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment seriously and most importantly, be held accountable to doing the work,” Nguyen said.
District 2 Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson posted a statement on Facebook where she urged the DOJ to publicly release the names of the officers implicated in the alleged acts in order to hold them accountable.
“Accountability is essential,” Mero-Carlson wrote. “I firmly believe the overwhelming majority of WPD officers serve our community with honor and dedication. These men and women should not be unfairly judged based on the actions of an alleged few.”
Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty released a statement on Tuesday saying that he takes the report “very seriously,” but that he also wants to see the data behind the report.
In his statement, Petty said that he intends to request that Batista report back to the city council with recommendations on the next steps within the next 30 days while the city receives and process the investigative reports from the DOJ.
“While I wait for the action items to be fulfilled by the Administration, I want to ensure that this process shows compassion and empathy to those who have been impacted, including members of the BIPOC community and survivors of the commercial sex trade,” Petty said in the statement.
Other organizations
The DOJs report has also prompted responses from other organizations, as well.
Jessie Rossman, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, issued a statement on Monday saying that the DOJ report is welcome but “not the end of the story.”
“We urge local officials to work together with the DOJ to adopt and implement reforms to address the egregious misconduct described in the report,” Rossman wrote. “We also call on local and state officials to follow up on these findings to pursue their own investigations into misconduct in Worcester. This is critical because such misconduct may undermine the integrity of numerous criminal cases in which the officers referenced in the report were involved.”
The Safe Exit Initiative (SEI), an organization involved in supporting individuals who are or who have had experience in the sex trade, released a statement on Tuesday calling on the city, the city manager and the city council to take the report seriously and provide an appropriate response.
“The DOJ recommendations for improvements are straightforward, with the majority focusing on instituting policies, procedures, and training for officers and supervisors across all units and ranks,” SEI said.
The Justice Department outlined 19 recommendations for the police department.
Some of these recommendations include Worcester police providing clearer rules and supervision for officers investigating prostitution and sex offenses, including by barring any form of sexual acts as part of police work, better management and supervision of specialized units, such as the Canine Unit or Vice Unit, which are responsible for investigating sex- and drug-related crime and improvements towards its responses to people who experience behavioral or mental health crises by coordinating with other service providers and trained health professionals, the report reads.
