A federal investigation into the Worcester Police Department found that the law enforcement agency’s “pattern or practice” includes “outrageous government conduct,” “excessive force,” and “sexual misconduct” by officers.
The Department of Justice opened the investigation on Nov. 15, 2022, with U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy on Monday announcing “serious and sobering” findings in a 41-page report that concluded there’s “reasonable cause to believe” Worcester police and the city “engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of their rights under the Constitution and federal law.”
Federal investigators detailed specific examples of excessive use of force by officers, including unjustified uses of tasers, police dogs, and strikes to the head. The report also stated that 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.
In one of many examples of excessive use of force highlighted in the report, an officer responding to a mental health call to help transport a man to a hospital for an emergency psychiatric evaluation hit the man in the face while he was restrained and lying on a hospital stretcher in July 2020.
The feds also said the department violated 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.
“DOJ has reasonable cause to believe that WPD has engaged in a pattern or practice of outrageous government conduct during undercover operations by allowing officers to engage in sexual contact with women suspected of being involved in the commercial sex trade,” the report stated. “This sexual contact served no legitimate law enforcement purpose. Despite being on notice of these issues, WPD failed to establish the policies, training, and supervision needed to ensure officers are not violating women’s constitutional rights, instead allowing a problematic culture and unlawful conduct to continue unchecked.”
The DOJ’s findings also expressed serious concerns about credible reports that officers have sexually assaulted women under threat of arrest.
“Excessive force and sexual misconduct at the hands of officers who took an oath to serve and protect deeply diminishes the public’s trust in its sworn officers,” Levy said in a statement. “The actions by certain officers who engaged in this conduct are not a reflection of the many hard-working and ethical officers at the WPD who did not engage in such misconduct or the thousands of police officers around the Commonwealth who serve with honor every day.”
The report did acknowledge that changes have already been made by the city and department, while also identifying additional remedial measures that the department believes are necessary to address its findings.
“While the findings announced in today’s report are serious and sobering, today we start a new chapter,” Levy added. “We look forward to working with the City of Worcester and the new leadership of the Worcester Police Department to implement reforms that will prevent these kinds of incidents from reoccurring.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts said in a statement that the DOJ’s findings prove the Bay State is not immune to police corruption. The ACLU also called on Massachusetts officials to investigate Worcester’s allegations themselves.
“While we welcome the Department of Justice’s report, it’s 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. We also call on local and state officials to follow up on these findings to pursue their own investigations into misconduct in Worcester,” said Jessie Rossman, legal director at the ACLU of Massachusetts. “This is critical because such misconduct may undermine the integrity of numerous criminal cases in which the officers referenced in the report were involved. As the Supreme Judicial Court has made clear, the Commonwealth has a duty to investigate and disclose all exculpatory evidence — not just those examples listed in the report — to defendants whose cases may be affected. Prosecutors must now fulfill that duty.”
The United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division conducted this investigation alongside the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Massachusetts.
READ THE FULL REPORT BELOW:
Finding Report – Worcester PD by Boston 25 Staff
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