The Department of Justice on Tuesday announced an investigation into whether police in Worcester, Massachusetts, have routinely used excessive force or discriminated against residents based on race or gender.
The civil investigation into the Worcester Police Department will review the department’s policies, procedures and training, as well as how it holds officers accountable when it receives misconduct complaints, to determine whether a pattern of discrimination on the basis of race and sex exists.
Investigators will also focus on how police officers interact with the public, collect evidence, and complete investigations in the city.
“Based on information provided to the Justice 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,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement.
Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty, the city’s Acting Manager Eric Batista, and Worcester Police Chief Steven Sargent pledged full cooperation with the investigation.
“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,” the city leaders said in a joint statement.
U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Rachael Rollins assured that “majority of Worcester’s officers do their jobs with honor, pride, restraint and distinction,” and added that the investigation’s “ultimate goal is to ensure that policing in Worcester is constitutional, safe, and effective all while the civil rights of their residents remain intact”
Worcester has about 200,000 residents and is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Boston. The police department in the city is the second-largest in New England.
This comes as police departments across the U.S. have come under renewed scrutiny since the death of Floyd in 2020, most recently in the case of 43-year-old Dana Gaul, who sued the city and five officers, alleging that he was wrongfully charged with murder based on his race and what his attorneys called fabricated evidence.
“Plaintiff is a Black man, and but for his race, defendants would not have targeted him for unlawful arrest, imprisonment, and/or malicious prosecution based on the flimsy evidence it had,” the lawsuit said, which was filed in April. “In fact, the witnesses to the murder described the assailant as white, a description that does not match plaintiff.”
