Justice Department released Monday following a two year investigation. The page report also found that the police department used excessive force, including the unjustified uses of tasers and police dogs and strikes to the head. The findings raised concerns that the department engages in racially discriminatory policing, according to Justice Department officials.
Worcester, the state's second-largest city with a population of about ,, is located 50 miles west of Boston. Attorney Joshua Levy for the District of Massachusetts said in a written statement. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said the department looks "forward to working with city officials to institute reforms that build on their own preliminary efforts but that will fully bring an end to these unlawful and unconstitutional practices.
Brian T. Kelly, a lawyer representing the police department, said police and city officials have cooperated with the federal investigation. He called the report "unfair, inaccurate and biased. Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty said in a statement he takes the report's findings "very seriously. Worcester City Manager Eric Batista reacted to the report on Tuesday afternoon, calling the findings "shocking and unacceptable.
Batista listed steps the city is taking in response to the report. He said Worcester's Executive Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will lead trainings on behavior, implicit bias and related topics. The city is also establishing a hotline "for members of the public to report any alleged misconduct by police officers. The report found that Worcester police 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 — a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
The report also includes what investigations describe as "concerns about some credible reports that officers have sexually assaulted women under threat of arrest and engaged in other sexual misconduct; and concerns that WPD lacks adequate policies and practices to respond to and investigate sexual assaults by officers and others.
