Changes at the Worcester Police Department?

Changes at the Worcester Police Department?

There is speculation that the Chief of the Worcester Police Department, Gary Gemme,  will retire in August of 2015. There is no official confirmation, but several reliable sources have said as much.  Maybe after reading this blog Chief will choose to remain after August.

The reasons being given for the possible retirement of Chief Gemme is the disarray the Worcester Police has found itself in recently. There are three specific items. The first is the arrest of a Worcester Police officer for the beating of a shackled prisoner while in Worcester Police lock up.

The second item is the rumored investigation by the Department of Justice for the mishandling of Federal grant money for what is called the “Summer Project”.

The third item may be the malicious prosecution of the Worcester 4 Kelly Square demonstrators, Depending on the outcome of the trial, Chief Gemme and City Manager Edward Augustus could be name as individual defendants in a civil rights complaint.

Each of the three items would cause some Worcester Police Department files to be opened to the public. A part of court proceedings is what is called discovery during which the court orders documents to be released to the plaintiffs. A Department of Justice Investigation would be written report detailing its findings.

The case of the arrest of former officer Motyka has forced several other police officers to retire. A third police officer, Jeff Toney, was suspended. A supervisor on the scene of the alleged beating has not been disciplined. Curiously only the Black officer was named in the newspaper. A retired police officer does not have to cooperate in an internal investigation. The implication of the retirements of the two police officers is that there is more to misconduct to be exposed with its attendant internal resistance of some officers.

The grant for the so called “Summer Project” is for a form of community policing in which officers attend certain events that might reduce crime. However there are allegations that the money is being used instead as a sort of detail pay with no accountability of whether it is being used effectively to reduce crime or intentionally as a means of just putting money in some people’s pockets. When it comes to accounting and statistics the Worcester Police either have none or is failing to provide them to the public.  The forensic accounting of the Department of Justice might prove interesting, assuming that the Department of Justice is actually investigating the Worcester Police.

The third item of malicious prosecution of the Worcester 4 protesters can only go forward if a jury rules in favor of the Worcester 4. The Worcester City ordinance defining “Disturbing “the peace states that if there is a “legitimate purpose” defense. The Constitution of the United States guaranteed protests as “legitimate purpose”. Unlike the other protests where the demonstrators were ordered to disperse by the police, there were no police at Kelly Square. The Kelly Square demonstration was not unlawful given the circumstances. This might have been a reason that the District Attorney Early did not at first bring charges against the demonstrators.  A malicious prosecution complaint against the City of Worcester, its City Manager, and its Police Chief should shed more light on this. A light that Chief Gemme might to stay out of.