Worcester Police, Racism Reform Postponed By City Council

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester City Council action on a new package of police and racism policy changes will wait until March.

The package of reforms, which City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. released on Friday, was presented to the Council at Tuesday's meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, Mayor Joseph Petty punted the item until the March 2 meeting.

Still, dozens of residents spoke at the meeting about the proposals. Among many items, Augustus' proposal would remove school resource officers (SROs), ban facial recognition technology and create a cabinet-level Division of Investigations to handle complaints from residents.

Many people who spoke during Tuesday's meeting supported removing SROs, and investing in non-police intervention. One person did speak in favor of keeping SROs, citing the need to keep students safe.

Worcester Branch NAACP President Fred Taylor asked the Council to prioritize removing SROs. Augustus' proposal would remove them in January 2022, but the NAACP wants them gone when the new school year starts in September. Taylor said Tuesday the officers aren't necessarily guaranteeing student safety.

"It's not a proven fact that by having a police officers you're going to stop a major catastrophe," Taylor said.

YWCA of Central Massachusetts Executive Director Linda Cavaioli called in to support the reforms. She said Worcester should dedicate resources to deploying social workers and mental health counselors into the community.

Augustus' reforms were sent to the Council as an executive order, but Councilors will still have to approve them.