Tale of Two Tapes

The Tale of the Tapes

A Worcester police officer, Michael Motyka, was arrested recently in Worcester Massachusetts for allegedly violating the civil rights of a Black man being held in the Worcester Police lockup on Belmont St.  He allegedly beat the handcuffed and shackled victim while calling him racial slurs.  The incident took place in December 2014 and videotaped by the cameras in the  lock up. 

The Worcester District Attorney’s (DA) office has refused to release a copy of the tape to the public. The spokesman for the DA stated that a special prosecutor will be appointed and that it is policy not to release tapes of criminal acts until after a trial.  The problem with this policy for this case is that at least four other officers witnessed the alleged beating of the victim by officer Motyka and did nothing. 

The issue in this case is not only the civil rights violations by officer Motyka, but also the civil rights violations of the officers who witnessed the alleged beating and racial sluts and did nothing to protect the victim.  This is a civil rights violation in itself and a violation of Worcester Police Department policy. The tape should be released to the public so that the public can review the policies and actions of the Worcester Police Department. The Worcester Police Department which is responsible for the tape has the ability to release it. It should be fully transparent on this issue.

The irony of the tape is that the City is spent a lot money and used a lot of resources based on a tape of Black Lives Matter protestors at Kelly Square. The City will likely not be able to use this tape in court  as it can not be authenticated. The protestors did not beat up anyone and did not use racial slurs.  A motorist might have been “annoyed”. The protestors never ignored any police commands to “disburse” as the police were not present at the protest. The protestors disbursed on their own volition.

In the case of Motyka the City should suspend the officer who did nothing, while officer Motyka allegedly beat up a shackled prisoner, until their cases are adjudicated. The Motyka tape is a part of the review of violations of Worcester Police Department policy. These charges are exponentially worse than the charges against the protesters who might have  annoyed a motorist.

A defense for the protestors seems to be “legitimate purpose” which means that there was a need to bring attention to the misconduct of the Worcester Police. The Motyka case is evidence of the legitimate purpose of the protestors.

There is evidence that the City is maliciously prosecuting the protestors. Malicious Prosecution is a civil rights violation and it has four elements : 1. Commencement of criminal proceedings, 2. the proceedings is adjudicated in victims favor, 3. There was not probable cause, 4. The proceeding was brought with malice. This should be investigated by the Department of Justice when it comes to Worcester.

When I first heard of the arrest of officer Motyka, I was encouraged,  thinking perhaps Worcester had changed its review of police misconduct.  If the review process is taken more seriously by the City, the protestors at Kelly Square had a lot to do with it. Now I am not sure if there is substantive improvement in City government.

Mayor Petty has come out against civilian review of the police. It is time that Mayor Petty realizes he is now a part of the problem. The City Manager’s refusal to drop the charges against the protestors in light of events shows a business as usual policy at City government.