The Worcester Police Department has had a tough couple of decades. There are many causes for the scandals and millions in lawsuit settlements for various types of misconduct, but leadership tops the list.
When former Chief of Police Steven Sargeant retired suddenly, and effective immediately, nearly a year ago, on Sept. 1, 2023, City Manager Eric Batista appointed then-Deputy Chief Paul Saucier as the interim chief.
It’s been obvious for some time that Batista intends to name Saucier as the next full-time chief of police. Saucier has support from many city officials, with some already dropping “interim” from the title when mentioning him.
According to reporting from Marco Cartalono at the Worcester Telegram and Gazette on Monday, Aug. 19 (paywall), and Tuesday, Aug. 20 (paywall), three deputy chiefs have taken to the Civil Service system to challenge the city’s process in selecting the next chief.
In short, civil service is a standardized testing system established in 1884 that plays a huge role in who gets hired into, or promoted to, certain government roles. The Worcester Police and Fire Departments are part of the Massachusetts Civil Service system.
Someone can score well on Civil Service test, but in practice can arrive at a scene, pour fuel into a tense situation and escalate the scenario. Then arrest a pastor for disturbing the peace when the crime he committed was saying words. The likely outcome is another settlement that taxpayers will pay for.
I have been critical of this police department and the failure of this city to take bold action to deal with its problems. This chief has turned me around. I’m not the only one. Some level of confidence is being earned in this department by some who have had none.
Interim Chief Saucier
I gave a presentation in October 2023, which was scheduled prior to Sargent’s retirement, titled “A Culture of Impunity.” It focussed on what I called 20 years of failed leadership via disparate outcomes in the investigations by the internal investigations unit, and how leadership carried out discipline during the tenures of former chiefs Gary Gemme and Sargent.
In the conclusion, I urged the city to search nationwide for the next police chief, preferably for a person who would bring previous experience rebuilding a troubled department or division of a department. Someone without ties to what I believe is a system broken by 20 years of failed leadership was my view of the best path to reforming the Worcester Police Department. I still believe that strategy would be effective.
I was concerned that a long-time member of the Worcester Police Department, like Saucier, could not provide the culture change needed.
I was wrong. After nearly a year of leadership under Interim Chief Saucier, I believe he’s earned the appointment to the position long-term.
That’s not to say everything is perfect. Reforming a culture is difficult work that will meet significant resistance and take time. The metrics are trending the right way.
Complaints filed against police by residents are down. This will hopefully result in a decrease in lawsuits, where the taxpayer foots the bill. While there are still several lawsuits working their way through the judicial system, including the disgraceful Natale Consenza situation, those die are cast.
It’s also important to note that body cameras likely have a role in affecting officer conduct and making false claims pointless. City leaders said that Gemme would look into body cameras as early as 2014. It didn’t happen until 2023.
Saucier also acknowledged during a Worcester City Council meeting that, like many police departments across the country, this department had done harmful things in the past based on race. While that is important to acknowledge for its own sake, as acknowledging the problem is a necessary step for change, it also shows that we now have a police chief that lives in the same reality as the rest of us. It’s a unique experience for this city.
Saucier is a much different leader who has been consistently present at community events across the city, making himself accessible. Importantly, he will listen.
I met with Saucier when he was a deputy chief for a story on ShotSpotter, in 2022. A few months after his appointment as interim chief, I requested to meet with him again. When we met, the discussion continued well beyond the scheduled time and ranged far beyond the purpose I had in requesting the meeting.
When engaging with someone as a journalist, it’s pretty easy to read the intent of the other side of the conversation. There is a vast difference between someone that only answers questions in the narrowest way possible, like it’s an interrogation or they are testifying in court, and someone who has a conversation.
With me, Saucier was the latter, and it wasn’t close. I’ve heard from others who have had similar experiences.
No one should expect anyone in that job to be perfect. He won’t be. So far, on the merits, I think he’s earned it.
Entitled to Serve
As reported by Cartalono in the Telegram, Deputy Chiefs Sean Fleming, Edward McGinn and Carl Supernor petitioned the state’s Civil Service Commission to investigate if the city is complying with state Civil Service law in selecting the next permanent chief.
In their view, they have the right to be considered as the next chief, according to Massachusetts Civil Service Law.
While they are within their rights to challenge the city’s process, they chose the path best for them, not the city or department.
Claims by Deputy Chiefs
According to a new report by the Worcester Regional Research Bureau, the three deputy chiefs claim that on Sept. 1, 2023, the day Sargent retired, Batista told them that the chief of police position would remain in the civil service system. Batista later informed them on Feb. 22, 2024, that he intended to seek the position of chief removed from civil service.
On Sept. 1, 2023, only three of four deputy chiefs were eligible to test for the chief position. The fourth, Supernor, was promoted in May 2023. The civil service law requires at least one year in a position before that individual is eligible for promotion.
To Protect Their Pension and Serve Themselves
Civil service requires at least four eligible to hold the test. When less than four people are eligible, those with at least one year of experience in the next-lowest title also become eligible. That would enable seven individuals at the rank of captain to take the test, along with the three eligible deputy chiefs.
The city filed its petition with the state legislature in April to exempt the chief and deputy chief positions. On May 28, Supernor became eligible to take the test.
On July 3, the three deputies emailed the city manager asking the city to schedule the test for chief, immediately.
The city alleges that the four deputy chiefs requested a delay in holding off on the test until Supernor was eligible in May. That, conveniently, reduces those eligible to take the test from 10 to four.
If the city’s allegation is true, the deputy chiefs’ claims of wanting an open, transparent, fair process for selecting the next chief are nonsense. They want what’s best for their pension.
In 2023, these men earned regular pay between 2.9 and 3.5 times the median household income of the residents of Worcester. All three also earned between $46,000 and $54,000 of detail pay on top of their salary.
McGinn couldn’t explain to an internal investigator the context of a voicemail that said “it’s (expletive) hilarious” (paywall), left for a person who made a racial comment about the mixed-race granddaughter of a police department employee earlier the same day.
Should McGinn test his way into the chief of police position, expect significant concerns voiced by some residents of the city, and significant harm to the ability to recruit a diverse force in the department, which is already understaffed.
This police department, and previous city leadership, have put this city through enough. People harmed, like Nga Truong, Natale Cosenza, Pastor Joseph Rizzuti, Chris Ayala, to name just a few, have led to millions in lawsuit settlements and judgement, all paid by the taxpayer.
Previous administrations magnified the problem, spending more taxpayer money in protracted legal battles to keep information secret about bad actors within the police department.
That has caused significant distrust in the police department and an embarrassing federal investigation.
Finally, the city has a chief who is beginning to roll some of that harm back.
While these three deputy chiefs are within their rights to challenge the city’s process, their callous indifference to what is best for the city, or the level of being out of touch it takes not to see that, are disqualifying in their own right in a world where objective analysis is more important than a bubble test.
Enough Half-Measures
An independent report released in March said the city should consider removing itself from the Civil Service system. The city’s Human Rights Commission has unanimously voted to advise the city manager to opt-out. Multiple times over the last 25 years, the city has engaged in this debate, and chosen to do nothing.
Batista requested the city council vote to opt out only the chief of police and deputy chief positions from the civil service system. They did, 10 – 0. That can’t go into effect until the Massachusetts Legislature approves it. That action must originate in the House of Representatives.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives, a wholly dysfunctional body, did not pass the measure before it ended formal sessions this year. The House may convene in formal session again before the end of the year, but several people on Beacon Hill told me they find it unlikely that Worcester’s petition to exempt the police chief and deputy chiefs from Civil Service will come up. Lawmakers must refile the petition again next year.
At least 33 municipal police departments have opted out of the system, including Grafton, Marlboro, Milford, Uxbridge, and Webster in Worcester County. Currently pending on Beacon Hill are petitions by Charlton, Bellingham, Needham, and others to fully exempt their police departments. There are currently 20 bills pending for some exemption from Civil Service for police, fire, and one (Northampton) to opt-out its Department of Public Works department.
Municipal opt-out from Civil Service is not uncharted waters.
The city must stop with the half measures. Full opt-out from the Civil Service system begins the path toward a city where cops who conduct illegal interrogations, manipulate evidence, arrest pastors for speaking, or charge pedestrians for nothing get fired, not coddled until their time to collect a pension for the rest of their lives.
The Civil Service opt-out does not fully solve the problem, but it is a necessary component. The city must reassert its right to remove officers from the job. No Worcester chief of police should have to put any officer on the street they are not confident in. While last chance agreements may have their place, cost being the barrier to removing an officer is absurd.
Officers who would otherwise be on the street, if it weren’t for bad past behavior, should not get to sit inside police headquarters and accumulate pension until it’s time to collect. They should be shown the door.
Getting there will take difficult union negotiations and standing on red lines to peel back a system that protects unconstitutional behavior, the consequences of which are financed by the taxpayer.
Editor’s Note: This piece has been updated to include information from the Worcester Regional Research Bureau’s report published on Sept. 5.
