Worcester City Council Inaction Caused DOJ Investigation of Police
The officer-involved deaths of two black men in 2014 set off protests across the country, including in Worcester, Massachusetts. Within this beginning of a new movement for civil rights, the Worcester City Council had a moment of opportunity of which it failed to take advantage.
A retrospective look at this period, between November 25, 2014 and January 2015, shows a mix of deference to law enforcement, tone deafness, political calculation, and a near total failure to act by elected officials that was a critical fork in the road that leads to the 2022 announcement of a Department of Justice investigation into the Worcester Police Department.
Between late 2014 to early 2015, residents of Worcester came forward with a message for Worcester City Council: You have a real problem inside the police department. Credible voices, who presented their own experiences, and experiences of others they witnessed or were aware of, often qualified their testimony that the problem was not universal, but in their experiences, prominent.
City Council responded by passing a resolution supporting the police department, while actively refusing to include any acknowledgement of those that came forward. It took no meaningful action toward addressing the issues brought forward by the people it represents.
Background
On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner died during an altercation with police in Staten Island, New York after then officer Daniel Pantaleo held him in an unauthorized choke hold. The altercation was captured on video where Garner is heard saying "I can't breathe" before his death.
The phrase became emblematic of the modern fight for civil rights in the United States.
In December 2014, a grand jury elected not to indict Pantaleo for his role in the death of Garner. The New York City Police Department fired Pantaleo in 2019 for using the prohibited choke hold on Garner.
On Aug. 9, 2014, Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown. Ferguson is part of the St. Louis metro area.
Wilson claims he defended himself after Brown charged at him and struggled for control of his pistol. A friend of Brown's at the scene of the incident says Wilson initiated the altercation by grabbing Brown by the neck and threatening him.
On the night of Nov. 24, 2014, officials in Missouri announced that a grand jury declined to charge Wilson with a crime.
On Nov. 25, 2014, protests emerged across the country, including in Worcester.
Protests Lead to City Council Meeting at City Hall, Nov. 25, 2014
Worcester Police and protest organizers offered praise for each other after demonstrations during the day on Nov. 25, 2014. Comments indicate police went well outside the norm to enable protestors to express their constitutional rights, including the blocking of roads for a period of time. Then Deputy Chief of Police Steven Sargent (now Chief of Police), led the department's response to protests.
No arrests were made during protests in Worcester that day. While police were praised for their restraint, police also credited protestors with communicating effectively with police to enable the avoidance of arrests.
Importantly, it appears police attempted to understand rather than react like they were being attacked. It is a remarkable moment where both sides worked together to reach an amicable end of a day that could have been contentious, or worse.
City Council Public Comments
The protest events of the day led to demonstrations outside city hall that evening. Worcester City Council would meet at city hall the same evening. Several who took part in protests that day attended the council meeting to offer public comments.
Public comments at any council meeting can be an adventure. Well spoken, thought out comments that avoid hyperbole often accompany other speakers who offer anything but helpful commentary. This night was no exception.
After over an hour of comments by members of the public, there was a range that offered policy suggestions or personal testimony of negative experiences with Worcester police. Many noted respect for those who serve within the department with honor, while also testifying to personal experiences that indicate problems within the department.
Below is a sample of some of those comments.
(Note: Comments were selected based on the judgement of the author for relevance, quality of presentation, or other factors deemed productive or interesting. They are not intended to represent comments as a whole, but the comments that the author believes should have left an impression on councilors.)
Mayor Petty offered some thoughts at the end of the public comment portion of the meeting, which was met with applause from the gallery.
It was a remarkable day in Worcester. Police and protestors worked together, followed by a gallery of residents who came to the city council to speak. They felt heard and applauded city council for it.
This was their moment. Had councilors capitalized on this sentiment and took meaningful action to address the concerns raised, federal intervention may have never been necessary. The moment of mutual cooperation between activists and law enforcement was squandered into the typical posture of political adversaries. That relationship has never recovered.
City Council Meeting Dec. 2, 2014
At the next council meeting on Dec. 2, 2014, an item to approve spending for security cameras led to an exchange between then Councilor Connie Lukes and then City Manager Ed Augustus that referenced comments from the previous week.
Both Lukes and Augustus signalled the beginning of the end of whatever spirit of cooperation existed the previous week between those speakers testifying of their experiences with Worcester police and city government officials.
Lukes chooses to mischaracterize a statement made the previous week as an accusation of serial rape, which is inaccurate. A speaker said they were aware of ongoing research that found women operating as sex workers in the city had consistent claims of either rape or sexually assault by a officers within the Worcester Police department. That is a much different claim than Lukes' characterization.
The definition of sexual assault includes sexual contact resulting from coercion. Highly publicized cases from the entertainment industry, most notoriously involving Harvey Weinstein, included sexual assault by coercion. While those cases have significant differences, the core dynamic of powerful men using coercion to acquire sex acts is quite similar.
A recent report in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, available only to subscribers, says that investigators at the Department of Justice are looking into similar claims involving sex workers in Worcester. That report cites those who say they reported these claims to the city and were ignored.
While city government apparently did not take these claims seriously, thankfully the Department of Justice is.
Body Cameras
Lukes opened her comments with reference to body cameras, and Augustus' claimed that then Chief of Police Gary Gemme was looking into the use of body cameras in Worcester, displays the sad irony of the inability of city government to get things done. In 2022, the use of body cameras was finally approved. However, more than seven years after these comments, not one Worcester Police officer is wearing a body camera. By any measure, even for government, this is a pathetic level of inaction.
Reversing the Bad Apples Argument
Augustus' comments are a diversion of the issue at hand and a reversal of the bad apples argument often used to defend police.
Many of the speakers who testified to their personal experiences the previous week would agree that the officer who was recognized at the event Augustus says he attended deserves that praise. He isn't the problem and speakers the previous week weren't talking about him. That should be obvious.
Criticism of police is often met with the defense of the many, agreeing there are some bad cops, but they are an extreme minority. Some speakers during public comments offered they agreed with that sentiment, without being prompted to do so. The conversation at hand is the bad apples. The logic of Augustus' argument appears to be that good apples unspoil the bad. That, of course, is preposterous.
While no evidence exists that Augustus and Lukes were engaging in a coordinated strategy, they both appear to be attempting to change the conversation from resident complaints related to the police department, to the positive aspects of the police department. The result, intended or not, is invalidating the very real concerns of residents.
That strategy would soon go to a much higher level.
City Council Meeting Jan. 7, 2015: The Tone Deaf Resolution
City Council met two additional times in 2014 after the December 2 meeting, but police issues were not on the agenda. When it returned to session after the start of 2015, councilors, led by Lukes, offered a resolution that was entirely tone deaf to the situation at the time.
Its effect, whether intentional or not, was to invalidate the experiences of those who brought their concerns to council chambers in November.
That resolution read:
That the City Council go on record in support of the Worcester Police Department and the department’s high level of professionalism, leadership in community relations and dedication to the citizens of Worcester.
The resolution was co-sponsored by current Councilor Morris Bergman, along with then Councilors Gary Rosen, Tony Economou, Michael Gaffney, and Phil Palmieri. The five co-sponsors and Lukes, the sponsor, gave the resolution majority support within the council when introduced.
Unsurprisingly, the resolution drew a number of comments from the public, including many who were in attendance on Nov. 25.
Here is a selection of those comments.
Lukes was the first to speak to after the conclusion of public comments.
Lukes begins by accusing speakers of speech "overcome with hate and anger," choosing to disregard several speakers who presented themselves clearly with the nuance the situation warrants, acknowledging the positive contributions of police in Worcester. She goes on to make a more inaccurate characterization of one speaker's statement on Nov. 25 than she had on Dec. 2, related to claims by sex workers of rape and sexual assault by police officers. This time, Lukes claims a single police officer was accused of being a serial rapist. That simply did not happen.
As one speaker said during public comments, this resolution created two sides. It was now cast as residents against the police department, which many residents clearly did not seek. Any goodwill that developed on Nov. 25 was now destroyed. Police and supporters present in the gallery cheered Lukes as she drew a line in the sand.
Then Councilor Fred Rushton identified the divisive nature of the proposal and sought to reach a compromise. At the end of his remarks, he holds the item, which prevents a vote until the next meeting.
Remarks by additional councilors are included below. They include:
- Sarai Rivera says she refuses to address the matter as an either-or.
- Kathleen Toomey says "don't tell me that all police officers have problems" with racism and prejudice, ignoring the many speakers who explicitly said otherwise. She also spends time defending against apparent criticism for not co-sponsoring the resolution.
- Gary Rosen says he sees the resolution as a thank you to police, disregarding the obvious divisiveness of the resolution.
- Tony Economou recounts several positive experiences with police, which is the same strategy of changing the conversions employed by Augustus and Lukes.
- George Russell focuses on the text of the resolution, with no consideration of its timing or divisiveness.
- Phil Palmieri discusses the potential for future community meetings.
- Petty touts his history of supporting police and credits the Chief of Police Gary Gemme, especially for his consideration of body camera since March 2014. Body cameras are yet to be implemented at the end of 2022. This praise was well after Gemme was attacking a judge on Twitter in a case that brought the city national embarrassment.
Jan. 13, 2015: No Compromise
The resolution came back to council on Jan. 13, after being held by Rushton on Jan. 7 to find a compromise that recognized what was now two sides pitted in opposition. Rivera offered an amendment to the resolution:
Lukes was undeterred, refusing to compromise on the language she proposed. Why the proposed amendment was not put up for a vote is unclear.
Lukes' response about a drug dealer is just strange. The question there, it would seem, is why the police haven't compiled evidence for an arrest. The constant changing of the subject is simply infuriating. The subject is bad individual police officers. Not all of them. Not most of them. Some. We don't know how many. That's the entire point.
City Council went on to pass Lukes' resolution 9-2 (Rivera, Rushton against) and Rivera's resolution 11-0.
No Follow Through
After all the posturing, feigned concern, and proposals, nothing happened. Nothing.
I was unable to locate a record of public meetings, but that doesn't necessarily mean they didn't happen.
The only tangible order that came out of this episode was from Rushton on Jan. 13. It read:
"Request City Manager bring to City Council within 60 days a plan implementing strategies and policies that will ensure a community that will continue to work to protect civil rights."
I reviewed city council agendas through April 28, well beyond the 60 day period. I found no report returned to the council.
The Public Safety Standing Committee met three times in 2015, after Jan. 13. Nothing in its meeting minutes referred to anything related to subjects relevant to police abuse of power, brutality, misconduct, discipline, or anything of the sort.
Petty explicitly said these issues would be taken up in committee. The chairperson of the public safety committee at that time was current Councilor Morris Bergman. Currently, the chair off public safety is Toomey.
The Twist
In reviewing city council meeting minutes through the end of April 2015, I found something surprising on April 28:
Request City Manager report on the feasibility of establishing an independent Civilian Police Review Board, with references to the applicability of a budget, staff, subpoena powers, investigatory powers with a goal of making determinations on merits of every citizen complaint regarding police conduct, and including recommendations on police programs, policies, and procedures and providing citizen input to the City Manager, all to promote community confidence in the Worcester Police Department while respecting the rights of both the police and complainants. (Lukes)
Of all people to try to start moving toward civilian review, which police furiously oppose, it was Lukes.
Her order was defeated 1-10. Lukes was the only councilor to vote for it.
Political Convenience
I met Lukes twice while she was in office, both times shortly after she had announced she would not run for another term. I disagree with her, often vehemently, on many issues. However, I found her in person much like I viewed her as a politician: principled. I believe her role in this scenario was misguided, tone deaf, and ultimately harmful, but she wasn't afraid to lead and take the criticism that came with it. That is a lot more than can be said for the others who voted for this misguided resolution.
What can't be denied is the political convenience of this resolution for those who supported it. Toomey's comments defending herself for not signing on to co-sponsor the resolution highlights the political power of the police unions in Worcester. That power is magnified by embarrassingly low turnout in municipal elections in the city. In November 2015, turnout was 21%. In 2021, it was 16%. The 475 individuals listed as part of the police department payroll in 2021 is equal to about 2.7% of turnout that year. Add family and friends of those employees, and it becomes much harder to find enough votes to win without aggressively seeking those votes.
What Did We Learn
Police are not going to police themselves. That has nothing to do with any individual. That's simply not how institutions work. The founding fathers of the United States created three co-equal branches of government precisely to mitigate this simple reality. Institutions self-preserve. Only oversight can force reform.
The Department of Justice investigation into the Worcester Police Department is civil. The only potential result is a binding agreement for the department to change policy. In its investigation in Springfield, DOJ found officers consistently used unreasonable force. It did not name any officer in the consent agreement. No individual was held accountable in the investigation. The Worcester investigation is likely to have similar results. While policy changes are good, that's not rooting out bad apples.
City Council has proven, both through this episode, its lack of follow through, and its inability or unwillingness to do anything since this time, that it will not police the police. Had they done anything of substance, the DOJ investigation would be unlikely. Worcester could have handled its own business. Since the federal investigation was announced, the only thing that has changed is Petty stopped allowing rules to be suspended to enable members of the public to speak on subjects not on the agenda at council meetings, which was previously standard practice.
The Massachusetts Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission has released a list of 8,228 officers it has certified between December 2021 and Dec. 9 2022. They are only from last names beginning from the letter A through the letter H. It has not released any information about officers that were not recertified. On Jan. 3 the commission announced 14 officers who arrested, charged or indicted for a felony whose certification was suspended.
That list of recertified officers includes Worcester detectives Kerry Hazelhurst and John Doherty. A civil jury found in October 2022 that Hazelhurst both concealed and fabricated evidence leading to the wrongful conviction of Natale Cosenza of Worcester. Cosenza spent 16 years incarcerated in the case before being granted a new trial. In 2017, a judge ruled Hazelhurst used an unduly suggestive identification procedure during the investigation, leading to prosecutors dropping the charges against Cosenza. The City of Worcester is appealing the judgement of over $8 million awarded to Cosenza in that case. That same jury found that Detective John Doherty conspired with Hazelhurst. Doherty was also the lead interrogator of Nga Truong in 2008. Truong spent three years awaiting trial before a judge ruled that interrogation illegal. The city settled that case for $2.1 million.
If sending an innocent man away for 16 years isn't worth decertification, what is? The POST Commission is already a joke.
Worcester County District Attorney Joe Early Jr. is certainly not going to police the police. The relationship between district attorneys and police departments is co-dependent, as is necessary. District attorneys should never be in charge of policing the police. On top of that, Early was just let off the hook by an ethics inquiry for conspiring with his deputy and the former state police colonel to cover up dumb things a judge's daughter said when arrested for DUI. They found he actually did that, but that there was not "substantial value" in redacting potentially embarrassing statements of the daughter of a judge. He also holds responsibility for the $2.1 million taxpayers had to pay out in 2008.
In the end, quite ironically, Lukes was right. The only legitimate path forward is a civilian review board to review police misconduct. If no one else is going to police the police, and council has categorically proven they will not, the very least city councilors can do is enable residents to do it themselves.