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The Department of Justice and the US Attorney’s office for Massachusetts have launched a civil investigation into whether the Worcester Police Department has engaged in excessive force, or practice discriminatory policing based on race or sex, federal officials announced Tuesday.
Kristen Clarke, the assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement that based on information provided to the department, “we find significant justification to investigate whether the Worcester Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of racially discriminatory and gender-biased policing, and uses excessive force.”
The investigation will evaluate how Worcester officers interact with the public, collect evidence, and complete investigations. It will also include a review of the police department’s “systems of accountability,” including on how it addresses misconduct and discipline, the statement said.
The probe will also review its policies, procedures, trainings, investigatory files, and data, federal officials said.
US Attorney Rachael Rollins, in the statement, said officials’ ultimate goal is to ensure that policing in Worcester is constitutional, safe, and effective while residents’ civil rights remain intact.
“The purpose of this civil investigation is to determine — through objective and thorough examination — whether or not there is an overall pattern or practice of conduct that violates the Constitution or federal law,” Rollins said. “This is the beginning of the process. We will go where the facts take us.”
Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty, Acting City Manager Eric D. Batista, and Police Chief Steven Sargent, in a separate joint statement Tuesday, said the city is working in “full cooperation” with federal officials.
“The Worcester Police Department will continue to work with the state and federal partners on public safety initiatives to protect and serve our citizens,” the city’s statement said. “The City and Worcester Police Department collectively strive to deliver the highest quality of municipal services to residents and will continue to do so in a transparent and professional manner as the investigation takes its course.”
According to the statement released by federal officials, Worcester city and police leaders were notified about the investigation prior to the public announcement.
“They pledged to cooperate with the investigation. As part of this investigation, Department officials will reach out to members of the public to learn about their experiences with WPD,” the statement said.
This is the second investigation of a Massachusetts law enforcement agency under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, the statement said. In 2018, the Justice Department investigated Springfield police, and resolved that review with a consent decree in 2022.
Federal investigators found that Springfield officers assigned to a now-disbanded narcotics unit needlessly escalated encounters with civilians, including punching people in the face, the Globe has reported. Officers failed to report physical confrontations and were rarely disciplined.
Representatives with the Justice Department and Rollins’s office declined to release specifics on what prompted the investigation in Worcester.
Last year, a Worcester Superior Court judge ruled the city of Worcester violated the Massachusetts Public Records Law by failing to disclose records of police misconduct requested by the Telegram & Gazette newspaper, according to the Associated Press.
The city was wrong to argue it could not disclose the records of Worcester police officers who are being sued in civil rights cases, Judge Janet Kenton-Walker wrote in her decision, as reported by the AP.
The newspaper had requested the records in 2018 after a local civil rights lawyer claimed there was a pattern of misconduct at the department, the AP reported.
Sargent told city officials during a 2020 meeting that he had “not observed racism in the department,” according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
In September, the city reached out to residents to provide feedback for a “racial equity audit” regarding the Worcester police, according to a Twitter post.
“Please join us in a community-centered dialogue connected to your call for local police reform and to provide community input and proposed solutions,” the post said.
A consultant’s audit report aimed to “understand disparities and racial inequity in law enforcement policy and practice,” the post said. It also would produce recommendations for reforms for Worcester police.
The police department’s racial equity audit is being conducted by the Center for Justice Research and Innovation, according to a city spokeswoman.
The public is invited to attend a Community Meeting session from 6 to 8pm on Sept. 19 or 20 to provide feedback for a racial equity audit regarding the police department. All are welcome. pic.twitter.com/q5m4IJC2sI
— City of Worcester (@TweetWorcester) September 19, 2022
David Fort, a former Worcester Board of Health member, said that he and other elected officials worked to treat police misconduct and violence as public health issues. He had also called for a civilian oversight board to review complaints against Worcester officers.
In an interview, Fort said the announcement about the federal investigation was not surprising.
“This is something that is urgent. We shouldn’t be the second-biggest city in New England and not have a civilian review board,” Fort said. “There’s something that these people are hiding if you have to have the Justice Department come in and do something about this.”
John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com.