Racism In Worcester Policing Spotlighted At Health Board Hearing

WORCESTER, MA — More than a hundred residents and city officials attended a Board of Health public hearing on racism and police brutality Monday night — an event some members of the board had been trying to hold since the summer.

The public hearing, moderated by Board of Health member David Fort, was held to allow citizens to talk about their experiences with police. After George Floyd's killing in May 2020, Fort tried to submit 12 recommendations to Worcester police to improve policing. He and other members of the board struggled with former chair Edith Claros in 2020 to talk about police reform as a public health issue — including holding a public hearing.

City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. was the first to speak Monday. He reiterated the city's commitment to the police reform law signed by Gov. Charlie Baker on Dec. 31. Augustus also highlighted a February executive order he presented to City Council, which included items like removing police from schools, banning facial recognition technology and creating a cabinet position to handle police complaints, among other items.

Dozens of callers talked about their feelings about local police on Monday, but the conversation largely revolved around Worcester police leaders recognizing racism inside the department.

Fort resurfaced a comment made by Chief Steven Sargent last summer about racism not existing in his department. That statement was contradicted in news reports, and Fort asked Sargent during the hearing to acknowledge racism in the department.

When it was Sargent's turn to speak, he said he was attending to listen and learn from citizens.

"Thanks for having me, I'm enjoying the conversation," Sargent said.

Worcester police Sgt. Rick Cipro, who is also president of the IBPO Local 504 police union, backed up Sargent's comments, and challenged attendees to provide proof of racism in the department.

"I'm still waiting for people to tell us where is the systemic racism in the Worcester Police Department. What policies and procedures do we have that have been racist, other than the anecdotes I hear?" Cipro said. "I think the word racism is thrown around freely."

Former Worcester police officer William Gardner spoke and alleged there is a culture of bias in the department. Gardner said he once saw a fellow officer punch a homeless person because the person was angry about being woken up on a bench behind City Hall.

"When I was a police officer, if you were a person of color, if English wasn't your native language, if you were homeless ... you really were going to catch hell from many of our police officers," he said.

Worcester resident Kevin Ksen said the police department and city officials are actually blocking access to the information Cipro was asking about. Ksen referenced the city's ongoing lawsuit with the Worcester Telegram and Gazette over police discipline records, and a lack of information about an apparent police sick-out. Improving transparency would help with events like the Board of Health hearing, Ksen said.

At-Large Councilor Khrystian King presented another example of systemic racism: the department's first Black captain, Kenneth Davenport, was only promoted in 2016. King said Davenport may have been the first Black captain, but not the first Black officer in the department to be qualified for the job.

"It just saddens me that we're at a place where leadership in our city, in certain segments of our departments, including Worcester police, has not educated themselves enough on what systemic racism is," King said. "The fact that the definition and the understanding of the totality of it saddens me and disappoints me."

Fort accused Sargent of "literally lying" to city residents about racism in the department, citing the Telegram article. He pledged to continue pushing for reforms in the department from his seat on the Board of Health.

"Anything less than a police citizens review board with subpoena power is not acceptable to me," Fort said. "That's the only way you're going to have transparency and accountability."