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Report: Worcester PD Reform Could Take Over 6 Years

By Tom Marino | January 26, 2023
Last Updated: January 26, 2023

WORCESTER – The Worcester Regional Research Bureau (WRRB) released a new report on Thursday which surveys the history of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Pattern or Practice Investigations, and their outcomes, since the 1994 Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act authorized the investigations.

The report finds that the average time between the DOJ announcing the investigation and compliance of the investigated agency is over six years. The average time for DOJ to announce its findings is over two years.

On Nov. 15, the DOJ announced a pattern or practice investigation of the Worcester Police Department. That investigation aims at determining if the Worcester Police Department “engages in a pattern or practice of excessive force or engages in discriminatory policing based on race or sex,” according to the DOJ announcement of the investigation.

The report notes that pattern or practice investigations are civil, not criminal, investigations. These investigations seek “institutional reform of the Department, not any individual Police Officer.”

The 1994 Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act makes it unlawful for the government or any agent or person acting on its behalf to:

“engage in a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers or by officials or employees of any governmental agency with responsibility for the administration of juvenile justice or the incarceration of juveniles that deprives persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.”

WRRB says the DOJ has launched 78 pattern or practice investigations. Nine of those 78 investigations (12%) are ongoing.

The average time from the announcement of the investigation for the DOJ to issue its findings is 26 months. On average, another 15 months elapses between the announcement of findings announced agreement with the investigated agency on reforms is reached. The average time from the start of the investigation until the case is closed, which requires the law enforcement agency to comply with the agreed upon reforms, is 6 years and 10 months (82 months).

The results of the 69 closed investigations are:

  • 22 Memoranda of Agreement (32%)
  • 21 Consent Decree (30%)
  • 16 Technical Assistance Letter or Private Litigation (23%)
  • 10 Closed without Outcome (14%)

Memoranda of Agreement (also known as Memoranda of Understanding) “requires law enforcement agencies to make changes to institutional conduct within a certain period of
time, but do not generally require an independent monitor to track their progress.”

Consent Decrees are created with the oversight of Federal Courts and “require an independent monitor outside of the law enforcement agency empowered to track and report on the agency’s progress.”

Both Memoranda of Agreement and Consent Decrees require law enforcement agencies to meet certain objectives.

The reforms mandated under the agreements reached vary, according to the WRRB. They range from rewriting use-of-force policies, implementing new technology or systems, providing health and wellness programs for officers, and more.

The DOJ announced an investigation of the Springfield Police Department’s Narcotics Bureau on April 13, 2018 and issued its findings nearly 26 months later, on July 8, 2020. It was another 22 months later, exactly four years after DOJ announced its investigation, that a settlement agreement was reached on April 13, 2022. In August 2022, an independent compliance evaluator was announced to monitor implementation of the agreement over the next four years.

The DOJ investigation of the Springfield Police Department found its Narcotics Bureau engaged in a “pattern-or-practice of excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment.”

The settlement agreement “focused on policies and training related to use-of-force,” according to the WRRB.

The Worcester Regional Research Bureau report is available for download on its website.

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