Give Your Input on Uses for ex-RMV Site at 611 Main St.

WORESTER – The Worcester Redevelopment Authority (RA) will hold a community input session to hear residents’ ideas for the future use of the former Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) site at 611 Main St., in Worcester. The building served as the Worcester RMV branch from 1983 until 2022. The WRA took control of the property in January 2026.

The community input session takes place at the Worcester Public Library, at 3 Salem Square in its first-floor meeting room.

The current building includes 13,330 square feet of commercial space on a 65,017 square foot parcel.

The City of Worcester says it expects to issue a request for proposal for the development of the property during fall 2026.

Poor Recordkeeping Muddies Latest Target of MassHealth Fraud Probe

by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon

Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office has recovered almost $12 million from a string of settlements with Massachusetts medical transportation companies it accuses of defrauding MassHealth, the state Medicaid program – and it’s got more in sight.

For those on Medicaid, coverage will pay for non-emergency medical transportation, either through certain state-approved providers or reimbursement. Companies that bill for services they never provide can find themselves in prosecutors’ crosshairs.

The latest defendant is fighting the fraud charges. But he’s also blaming any errors on years of shoddy recordkeeping on the part of brokers and vendors that handle scheduling, patient records, and billing for the state’s Medicaid-covered rides.

Worcester resident Ardit Islamaj and his company, Instant Transportation, LLC, were indicted last year on 17 counts. They are accused of billing MassHealth more than $3 million for rides that never happened — to patients who were dead, hospitalized, or had canceled rides — between August 2018 and August 2023. Prosecutors also allege patient abuse and neglect, identity fraud, and witness intimidation.

“The attorney general’s office conducted a one-dimensional investigation and simply got this one wrong,” said Islamaj’s lawyer, Amy Crafts. “We will continue pushing to dismiss these charges and clear his name.”

Islamaj’s lawyers argue the company can’t properly defend itself because Coordinated Transportation Solutions — the vendor that scheduled and billed Instant Transportation’s rides — won’t hand over records they say would let them prove that some of the bills they submitted were either legitimate or honest mistakes. Separately, Islamaj has accused CTS of feeding prosecutors curated information to help build the case against him.

CTS is a Connecticut-based nonprofit that administers non-emergency rides for some MassHealth members. It told the court that it has already provided the attorney general’s office with all documents relevant to scheduling, patient information, and billing information for the defendants’ services to MassHealth clients.

Worcester Superior Court Judge James Gavin Reardon, Jr. wasn’t persuaded that even potential gaps in CTS’s files help Islamaj’s case.

“The defendants have provided no facts indicating that CTS is in possession of, or has withheld, potentially exculpatory evidence,” Reardon wrote in his May 21 order.

He noted prosecutors have said they’ll rely only on specific bills, trips, and patients — not on anything CTS might be missing.

The case is due back in Worcester Superior Court for a motion hearing September 16.

Islamaj’s case is one of seven the attorney general has pursued against Massachusetts transportation companies in the last few years. Roughly $11.6 million has been recovered through settlements.

“MassHealth serves millions of residents, and every dollar improperly billed is a dollar that cannot go toward legitimate health care,” a spokesperson for Campbell said in a statement. “The AG’s office will continue to vigorously pursue these cases to protect the integrity of our public programs, both with respect to patient safety and to ensure taxpayer dollars are appropriately spent.”

Islamaj is one of two current indictments, according to the AG’s office. Waltham operator Bakali Mukasa was indicted in February for billing $770,000 for almost 17,000 rides to methadone clinics that the indictment alleges were never provided, with the proceeds allegedly funneled to Uganda, where he now lives.

Last August, Weymouth’s Brewster Ambulance and EasCare — the state’s largest medical transportation provider — paid $6 million over inflated claims.

In July, Traveler’s Transit paid $1.045 million to settle charges on routes it never drove. Two North Dartmouth ambulance companies paid $1.6 million in February 2024 for billing more expensive services than the ones provided. Leominster’s MedStar Ambulance paid $2.6 million in August 2023 for similar false billing. In October 2024, Swampscott’s RM Transportation paid $380,000 for billing rides for MassHealth recipients with take-home methadone doses who had no reason to travel that day — roughly the same behavior for which a grand jury indicted Mukasa.

Most of the cases have targeted the companies that provided the rides, not the brokers or vendors responsible for verifying the bills. But in 2020, under then-Attorney General Maura Healey, the AG’s office and the US Department of Justice settled with the Montachusett Regional Transit Authority (MART) for $300,000, resolving allegations that the organization billed for and received reimbursement from MassHealth for thousands of rides between 2011 and 2015 that its transportation subcontractors did not provide.

A May 2025 audit by the state auditor’s office examined the $283 million in MassHealth business paid to MART and the Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority. The office found the state had paid for rides with no matching medical appointment on record, and for rides without adequate documentation.

“Without sufficient evidence of trips, MassHealth may be paying for transportation services that did not take place,” auditors wrote.

The Executive Office of Health and Human Services responded that brokers are now rolling out software to centralize trip logs and driver records. Some cases without documentation, the health office said, may reflect circumstances where the member did receive the medical service but it was not properly logged or documented.

That audit did not cover the transportation broker CTS, the Connecticut nonprofit at the center of Islamaj’s argument. No state audit or attorney general settlement has yet examined whether the recordkeeping there passes muster.

But Crafts, Islamaj’s attorney, says years of poor documentation by transportation brokers should cut in his favor.

“Both the [attorney general’s] prior settlement with a transportation broker and the auditor’s recent report made clear that brokers like CTS are not properly documenting contracted rides, and they are now out to scapegoat my client,” Crafts said.

This article first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

WPD Says it Believes Body of Karen Solomon Located

WORCESTER – Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier told members of the media at a 4 PM press conference on Monday, Aug. 24, that a body recovered near Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital in the area of Coes Pond is believed to be that of Karen Solomon, 58.

The office of the medical examiner will make the official determination to identify the body.

In response to a question from a media member, Saucier said the body recovered appeared to have a gunshot wound. The department is attempting to identify the owner of the firearm used.

He also said the investigation is ongoing, but that the department believes the cases is a tragic murder-suicide.

Individuals employed at Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital walking near the pond discovered the body, according to Saucier. He also said the location of the body is six-tenths of a mile from the location of a video of Karen Solomon previously released by police.

The body of Worcester Police officer Kurt Solomon, 57, was discovered at the couple’s home on Wildwood Avenue on the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 18. Solomon serves within the Worcester Police Department for over 30 years.

Saucier also said that Massachusetts General Law declares this current situation a domestic incident because the deceased and the suspect lived in the same home. He added that the couple had no history of domestic abuse.

Historic Worcester ‘Octagon House’ for sale

A historic eight-sided home on Plantation Street in Worcester is for sale.

Known as the Richard Barker Octagon House, the house is named for its first known occupant, Richard Barker, an architect who lived there in 1866. It is one of two octagonal homes in Worcester, the other being the Elias Crawford House on Norwood Street.

According to City of Worcester records, the Richard Barker Octagon House is believed to be constructed in 1853, during a decade-long fad of octagon construction, made popular by phrenologist Orson Squire Fowler and his book, “The Octagon House: A Home For All, or A New, Cheap, Convenient, and Superior Mode of Building.”

State records show that it’s likely Barker purchased the home from a previous owner since the fad of constructing octagonal homes had faded by 1966.

According to the Massachusetts Historical Commission, the building’s eight walls are made of gravel, a very rare construction, since most octagonal homes were made of wood. The house is made of gravel and covered with stucco. Prior to 1920, the home had an octagonal cupola on its roof.

The Richard Barker Octagon House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Located at 312 Plantation St., the two-family home with a pair of two-bedroom, five-room units is listed for $499,000.

Cherry Picking Politics in the Face of Tragedy

During the early morning hours of Tuesday, Aug. 18, first responders discovered the body of Kurt Solomon, a 30-year veteran of the Worcester Police Department, at his home on Wildwood Avenue. Police continue to seek the location of his wife, Karen Solomon.

The widespread speculation about the case online won’t stop, but it should.

This is an obviously devastating time for the family and friends of the couple, the breadth of which is incomprehensible to those of us who haven’t experienced it.

Many at the Worcester Police Department are also hurting. Most of us have experienced the pain of losing a long-time friend or colleague. Few of us will ever experience the unimaginable toll of being assigned to an investigation into the death of a friend or colleague.

It’s a tragedy all around. No one would argue with that.

One would expect politics to take a backseat, especially on the day the tragic death occurred. Not in the Worcester City Council.

When Cherry-Picking is Good

The Worcester City Council is on its “summer schedule,” where over a nine-week period, from July 7 to September 1, it meets just twice.

During its last meeting on July 21, the report submitted to the city council by City Manager Eric Batista’s administration recommending that the city not establish a civilian review board appeared on the agenda. Councilor Khrystian King held the report, which brought it back to the agenda on Tuesday, Aug. 18.

The Worcester Police Department reportedly received the report that led to the discovery of Officer Solomon’s body at around 5:30 AM. The case became the top local news story throughout the morning. The Worcester County District Attorney’s office held a news conference, with it broadcast on its Facebook page. That live stream began at 3:21 PM. Mayor Joe Petty appeared at that press conference.

At 4 PM, Mayor Joe Petty’s Facebook and other social media pages released the following statement:

“At the beginning of tonight’s City Council meeting, I intend to make a motion to hold Item 23f regarding a Civilian Review Board. In light of the unfortunate circumstances that occurred today involving the Worcester Police Department, I believe this is the appropriate and respectful course of action. I respectfully ask that there be no public participation on this item tonight. This important discussion should take place at a time when it can receive the full attention and consideration it deserves.”

The first reason this is objectionable: cherry-picking one item to hold out of “respect” and calling it the “appropriate” thing to do paints police oversight as offensive. The foundation of the American government, three co-equal branches, is in itself oversight. To find oversight offensive is to find the United States Constitution offensive. Rescheduling the meeting in its entirety would have been the far more appropriate action. 

The second reason this is objectionable is far more insidious.

The city council meeting on Tuesday started at 6 PM, as the council schedules its summer meetings half an hour earlier than most meetings for no discernible reason. Despite this being the biggest news story of the day, and Petty being at the news conference 40 minutes earlier, this announcement came just two hours before a meeting that advocates for a civilian review board organized over the last four weeks.

This was an obvious trap. Paint hearing the item on police oversight as disrespectful and inappropriate in a public notice issued with as little lead time as possible, then sit back and wait for someone to come in and say something that can be used to paint all advocates with a smear.

The tactic failed spectacularly. Just a few speakers appeared for public comment after rapid organizing by a coalition group advocating for civilian review.

A councilor raised a motion to suspend the meeting soon afterward. The council’s response defies decency.

When Cherry-Picking is Bad

See the motion by City Council Vice Chair and Councilor At-Large Khrystian King and the response from City Councilor At-Large Moe Bergman, running 2:33 combined.

King’s motion was entirely appropriate. Enabling the council to vote only on items required for city operations, like its financial matters, which are typically approved without discussion, is a reasonable response to the circumstances.

Bergman’s question of whether or not a city agency requested the meeting cancelled is just plain odd. Doing the decent thing doesn’t require the permission of a city agency.

Similarly, Bergman’s concern about council orders, which are almost always non-binding with no force of law, is strange. If there were individual items of importance, there was a willingness to enable those items to be taken up before adjourning.

No councilor proposed the idea of coming to work any time before its next meeting on Sept. 8. Coming to work only appears to be a theme when politically convenient.

King’s motion to postpone the meeting required eight votes to pass. It failed, with Councilor John Fresolo and the nexus of the anti-oversight wing, Councilors Berman, Jose Rivera, and Kate Toomey opposed. When King asked for reconsideration on the item later in the meeting, the same four voted against it again.

The council observed no moment of silence for Kurt Solomon, nor was the tragedy referred to by anyone but King. It refused to adjourn after only the necessary items on its agenda out of respect for those involved. It refused to exhibit common decency.

But oversight? Well, that’s just offensive.

Image courtesy of City of Worcester

Police Seek Woman in Connection with Death of WPD Officer

WORCESTER – The Worcester Police Department continues to seek the location of Karen Solomon, 58, of Worcester, in connection with the death of her husband, Worcester Police officer Kurt Solomon, 57.

Kurt Solomon served as a patrol officer in Worcester for 30 years. He was reportedly killed at the home of the couple on Wildwood Avenue early in the day on Tuesday, August 18.

Karen Solomon was last seen walk toward Westcott Street in Worcester early Tuesday morning wearing pajama shorts and a tank top. She is a white woman with dark brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information related to the location of Karen Solomon is asked to contact the police through one of the following methods:

• Send an anonymous text to 274637 TIPWPD + your message
• Send an anonymous web-based message at worcesterma.gov/police
• Call the Worcester Police Detective Bureau at (508) 799-8651

Suppression of WRRB CRB Report Stopped by 1 Vote

WORCESTER – The Worcester Regional Research Bureau (WRRB) released a report requested by the City of Worcester on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, titled “Overdue for Civilian Oversight: A Pathway for Lasting Police Reform.” The report issued a recommendation that the city create a civilian review board as an independent oversight mechanism for the Worcester Police Department.

The WRRB received some criticism for the release of the report weeks before the municipal election on Nov. 4, 2025, with some calling the timing politically motivated.

Paul Matthews, the Executive Director and CEO of the WRRB, publicly took the position that delaying a completed report until after the election would also be a political decision.

Sources with direct knowledge of activity at the WRRB in the days leading up to the release of the report say political concerns motivated an attempt to prevent its release, including an emergency executive committee meeting the day prior.

Public Criticism of the WRRB

As This Week in Worcester previously reported, in the days after the release of the report former Mayor and current CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce (Worcester Chamber) Tim Murray resigned his post as a member of the WRRB Board of Directors.

In a statement issued by Murray about his resignation, he said, “To issue a report and recommendation three weeks before a competitive municipal election was, in my judgment, a mistake that does a disservice to the important discussion and debate this issue warrants.”

The WRRB lists nearly 100 members on its board of directors, from which Murray resigned. which does not act as its high-level management board. Its 13-member executive committee makes its executive, board-level decisions.

Initial Approvals

The WRRB Executive Board approved the creation of the civilian review board report, as requested by the city of Worcester, in June. WRRB staff completed their research and produced the initial report in August.

The WRRB requires the approval of executive board members for the release of its reports to stakeholders for review. Staff initially distributes reports for approval to executive board members by email. Without objection, staff may move forward to distributing reports to stakeholders for review.

It is common practice across many organizations to distribute reports to stakeholders for factual objections before public release.

Just four of the 13 executive committee members responded to receipt of the report. None objected. WRRB staff moved forward, distributing the report to the city manager’s office and the office of the chief of police.

On Friday, Oct. 10, the WRRB released the report to the Worcester Telegram and Gazette under embargo until the scheduled release of the report on Tuesday, Oct. 14. When a media organization accepts information under embargo, it agrees to withhold reporting on that information until an agreed-upon date. The early release enables the media organization more time to produce its reporting.

The Telegram would have no obligation to extend that embargo agreement beyond the initial agreement of Oct. 14, 2025.

Emergency Board Meeting

On Oct. 13, 2025, the day prior to the release of the WRRB civilian review board report, the executive committee held an emergency meeting initiated by committee treasurer George W. Tetler III, Esq., a partner at the Worcester office of the law firm Prince Lobel.

The agenda for the emergency meeting included a motion to delay the release of the WRRB civilian review board report.

Sources told This Week in Worcester that in response to an inquiry about the motivation for calling an emergency meeting, Tetler said that “Tim called.”

Everyone present understood this to be a reference to Worcester Chamber CEO Tim Murray, according to sources present at the time of the comment.

Tetler did not respond to a request for comment by This Week in Worcester by the time of publication.

Worcester Business Development Corporation (WBDC) President Craig Blais actively advocated for delaying the release of the report to executive committee members, according to sources. Those sources said that Blais and Murray shared the belief that the release of the WRRB report on Oct. 14 could negatively affect their preferred candidates in the municipal election held three weeks after the release of the WRRB report on Nov. 4.

Sources told This Week in Worcester that Blais said, with multiple people present, that “we have worked hard to elect business-friendly candidates.”

Blais did not respond to a request for comment by This Week in Worcester by the time of publication.

Murray served as mayor of Worcester from 2002 to 2007. During Murray’s tenure leading the city council, it hired Mike O’Brien as city manager in 2004. Blais served as director of economic development during O’Brien’s administration.

Withholding Report Defeated 5-6

Matthews, who runs the day-to-day operations of the WRRB as its CEO, took a position before the executive board that mirrored his public statements after the release of the report. Matthews consistently advocated for the release of the report, arguing that holding the report back would also be a political decision.

Sources told This Week in Worcester that Matthews was, “wiling to die on that hill.”

Matthews did not respond to a request for comment by This Week in Worcester by the time of publication.

Some members felt the release of the report could not be avoided, as it had already been provided to the Worcester Telegram and Gazette

Executive Committee Vice Chair Eric Torkornoo and member Jochen Salfeld, Ph.D did not vote on the motion to withhold the report, as they could not attend the emergency meeting.

Tetler, Chair Paul Kelly, and Clerk Demitrios M. Moschos, Esq. were among the voted to withhold the report.

Roberta Brien, a WRRB executive board member who also serves as Executive Vice President at the WBDC, which is led by Blais, voted to support releasing the report.

The WRRB Executive Committee defeated the attempt to withhold the release of the report by a 5 to 6 vote.

10 Failures of Neutrality in Worcester’s CRB Report

The Worcester City Council will vote on Tuesday, August 18, to reject the creation of a civilian review board (CRB) for the fourth time in the last five decades, effectively winning the war its majority faction has waged against significant police reform since the release of the U.S. Department of Justice investigation report in December 2024.

The council’s majority has taken a position in complete lockstep with the NEPBA Local 911, the labor union that represents patrol officers in Worcester. While eight councilors are likely to vote against a CRB, not one of them has suggested an idea that deviates from the status quo.

The city’s CRB reoprt, released to the city council in July, includes a cover letter from City Manager Eric Batista, which includes his decision not to recommend a civilian review board. The report intends to present as an effort at fact-finding, but reads like a position paper designed to reach its predetermined conclusion.

See these 10 elements in the report that should disqualify it from being considered an authoritative source for the basis of a final decision.

Sources cited below:

U.S. DOJ Report on Investigation of Worcester Police Department

Worcester Regional Reseaerch Bureau (WRRB) Report: Overdue for Civilian Oversight

City of Worcester Municipal Civilian Review Board Report

Material Manipulations

1.1 Claim: WRRB’s findings are the foundation of the city’s CRB report.

The City of Worcester’s CRB report does not include the conclusion of the WRRB report which it says is foundational to its own report. 

“The resulting WRRB report provided valuable insights into strengthening transparency, accountability, and collaboration within the municipality’s oversight framework. In fact, the WRRB’s findings serve as the foundation for the Executive Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’s ( EODEI) own report.”
(City Manager’s cover letter to the city council attached to the report, page 1, paragraph 3.)

The cover letters from City Manager Batista and Chief Equity Officer Kevin Lovaincy which precede the city’s “Municipal Civilian Review Board Report” cites the WRRB report seven times. The report cites the WRRB an additional four times: twice in the acknowledgment and twice in its executive summary.

Yet the report completely omits the WRRB report’s conclusions on pages 2, 3, and 22, which recommend the establishment of a civilian oversight entity. Notably, the preceding paragraph notes that the DOJ did not recommend a CRB.

To note that the DOJ report did not recommend a CRB, but omit the recommendations of the “foundation” of the WRRB report is manipulative and undermines the entire report.

1.2 Claim: Evaluating CRB is a commitment beyond the DOJ report.

Reaity: The City of Worcester has not significantly responded to the DOJ report, outside of attempts to dispute individual claims to undermine calls for reform.

The city’s CRB report makes no mention of the DOJ’s findings on:

• Officer sexual misconduct 
• Gender bias in sexual assault investigation
• That the city’s accountability mechanism, and the department’s internal investigation unit, the Bureau of Professional Standards, is broken. 

The city manager wrote in his cover letter:

“This commitment was not simply a response to the DOJ’s findings (which did not recommend a CRB), but part of the municipality’s broader effort to continually improve transparency, accountability, and public trust in municipal government and policing.”

The city’s CRB report itself does not mention the DOJ report. Batista’s letter to the city council mentions it twice.

The report makes no specific mention of the DOJ’s conclusions or contributing causes articulated in its report.

The city’s CRB report primarily addresses complaints of excessive force. The report attributes its declared improvement in this area by citing a sharp reduction in complaints about the use of force. However, page 11 of the city’s CRB report shows that between 2018 and 2025, civilians filed 102 complaints for excessive use of force, and the WPD sustained just one.

The city’s CRB report does not address “outrageous government conduct that violates the constitutional rights of women suspected of being involved in the commercial sex trade.” 

Instead, the department has floated conspiracy theories about impostors pretending to be police officers being responsible, despite the statistical improbability that all the allegations cited in the report are false. 

Since the release of the DOJ report, the city hasn’t meaningfully addressed multiple items in a section called “Contributing Causes of Violations.”

The city has had no meaningful response to Item A(3), “BOPS Investigators Reach Improper Conclusions and Fail to Interview Key Witnesses.”

The city also hasn’t addressed parts of Item C, “WPD Does Not Adequately Supervise Officers,” The DOJ report says “WPD does not provide supervisors with the necessary tools to understand how officers are spending their time, assess patterns or problems in officer activity, or ensure the proper deployment of WPD resources in line with community priorities.”

Misleading Claims

2.1 Claim: Declining Rate of Complaints

Reality: A falling complaint count and a near-zero sustain rate is not accountability, regardless of the reasons for declining complaints. 

“Complaints declined from a high of 29 complaints in 2019 to 4 complaints in 2025, representing an approximate 86% reduction over the reporting period.”
(City of Worcester CRB Report, p. 18)

The reduction in the number of complaints is a positive development, but attributing that reduction solely to improved practices is an assumption. A lack of confidence that any change will occur could also contribute. More city residents now know that the department almost never sustains violations of use of force claims.

“Of the several dozen BOPS investigations for use of force that DOJ reviewed, WPD sustained allegations in only five cases, though substantially more involved unreasonable force. Furthermore, the sustained findings in those five cases were for reporting violations, rather than the use of force itself. Each officer was exonerated of the more serious allegations. Two officers with sustained reporting violations received counseling or criticism as discipline.”
(DOJ Report, p. 35)

2.2 Claim: A CRB requires “significant resources” to be impactful.

Reality: The city’s CRB report provides subjective rhetoric instead of quantifying the actual cost. 

“Based on the findings and recommendations presented in this report, which weigh the benefits of an independent CRB against the significant resources required for it to be impactful, my recommendation is to not pursue a CRB.”
(City Manager’s letter to the Worcester City Council)

The city’s report does not “weigh” the costs against anything, because costs are not included in the report like they are in the WRRB report

“If Worcester adopted this approach in FY26, 1% of the Worcester Police Department’s $61,003,404 budget would equal  $610,034, providing a floor for investigative staff, administrative support, and board operations.”
(WRRB, “Overdue for Civilian Oversight: A Pathway for Lasting Police Reform” p. 19)

2.3 Claim: EODEI already provides elements of an effective oversight model.

Reality: WRRB report identifies the limited jurisdiction of EODEI.

The city’s CRB report identified the WRRB report as its foundation, as described in item 1.1, but wholly ignored the WRRB warnings about the jurisdiction of the Executive Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (EODEI).

“The EODEI is an established, independent municipal office with trained investigators, defined investigative authority, established confidentiality protocols, access to the records and personnel necessary to conduct investigations within its jurisdiction, and collaborative working relationships with WPD, the HRC, and municipal leadership.”
(Worcester CRB report, p. 31)

Calling EODEI independent is laughable. It is independent of the police department, but reports to the city manager, as does the chief of police. Batista’s administration has called the city manager the oversight mechanism of the police department. This would be like saying that at the federal level, the State Department is an oversight mechanism for the Defense Department. The U.S. Congress and its committees, as a separate branch of government, are the oversight mechanism.

The WRRB report said that EODEI’s jurisdiction is too narrow to act as an oversight body.

“Despite the breadth of EODEI’s responsibilities—spanning everything from leadership training and employee development to oversight of disability policy and organizational culture—its jurisdiction is generally limited to cases involving discrimination or bias. This presents a challenge: throughout the investigative process, whether the complainant is aware of it, discriminatory treatment or bias may have influenced outcomes in subtle or unreported ways, further narrowing the window in which the DEI office can formally intervene.”
(WRRB, “Overdue for Civilian Oversight: A Pathway for Lasting Police Reform” p. 17)

2.4 Claim: The Human Rights Commission is part of the existing oversight structure.

Reality: City Manager Batista has refused to release data related to the police department to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) for years. Nearly all of the policy recommendations from the HRC are not implemented by the WPD.

In December 2023, Batista ordered the HRC to pause its work related to the Worcester Police Department.

Since the release of the city’s CRB report, two members of the Human Rights Commission resigned. Both disputed the characterizations of the role of the commission in the report as a part of the oversight of WPD.

Structural and Procedural Weaknesses

3.1 The creation of a CRB would affect the EODEI, which authored the report.

EODEI has a role that would be affected if a CRB were established. A department with skin in the game has an inherent bias.

3.2 Vague commitments

Phrases like “continue strengthening,” “continue to evaluate,” and “remain open to additional structural changes” appear in the report. None of that is a plan. 

3.3 No consideration of prior advocacy for CRB

The WRRB report discusses the history of advocacy for a CRB in Worcester.

“Calls for oversight arose in the 1970s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, typically following incidents or investigations that drew public concern. Each effort generated discussion but ultimately did not result in permanent structures.”
(WRRB, “Overdue for Civilian Oversight: A Pathway for Lasting Police Reform” p. 2)

City Manager Batista’s letter provided some acknowledgement.

“I also want to acknowledge the residents, community organizations, and stakeholders who have advocated for a CRB over many years. Their advocacy has helped shape important conversations regarding accountability, transparency, and public trust.”
(City Manager’s letter to the Worcester City Council)

No discussion of the history of advocacy for CRB appears in the report.

3.4 Collective bargaining with police unions is a barrier for CRB, not for EODEI.

“Implementing or expanding civilian oversight may not be accomplished solely through policy changes. Modifications that affect working conditions, investigative procedures, access to records, or disciplinary processes may require formal negotiations, which can vary in complexity and duration depending on the scope of the proposed changes. Understanding the provisions of existing CBAs is therefore an important consideration when evaluating any new oversight model.”
(Worcester CRB report, p. 29)

The addition of EODEI investigators was a change in investigative procedures. There didn’t appear to be any hurdles there.

Word Games vs. Reality as Police Reform Dies in Worcester

Vice Chair of the Worcester City Council Khrystian King and City Manager Eric Batista traded barbs in statements released this week related to the end of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation of the Worcester Police Department.

On Friday, Aug. 7, Batista’s office released a statement announcing the DOJ closed its investigation. The first paragraph of that statement:

“The U.S. Department of Justice informed the City of Worcester Thursday that it has chosen to close its investigation into the Worcester Police Department without further action and without sustaining any allegations from its 2024 report.”

On Tuesday, Aug 11, King released a statement which said, in part:

“The City Manager’s mischaracterization of the DOJ’s latest letter demands a response. Nowhere does the letter conclude that community concerns were unfounded or unsubstantiated, nor does it retract the DOJ’s findings. Worcester residents deserve honesty from their government, particularly on matters of public safety, police accountability, and community trust.”

On Friday, Aug. 14, Batista’s office released a statement which did not mention King by name, but said, in part:

“It’s unfortunate that our announcement has been mischaracterized, which distracts from the collective improvements and progress made since the 2024 report was released.”

Batista’s Aug. 14 statement went on to say:

“The municipality’s announcement did not state that the DOJ retracted its findings, nor did it imply that the 2024 allegations were unfounded. To state otherwise only serves to further divide us.”

The Batista Administration has not been forthcoming in releasing the text of the DOJ letter. This Week in Worcester sent a request to Batista’s office after business hours on Tuesday, Aug. 11. Since the start of business on Wednesday, Aug. 12, that request received no response.

However, screenshots of the letter from the DOJ have circulated online. This Week in Worcester converted that image to text. Find the full text at the bottom of this page.

The letter does not include any language that shows the DOJ claims it closed its investigation “without sustaining any allegations from its 2024 report.”

The DOJ doesn’t sustain or not sustain allegations raised in its pattern and practice allegations. These investigations use a standard of reasonable cause to believe, which is equivalent to probable cause. It issued its findings in its findings report in December 2024. The purpose is to identify systemic issues, not issues of specific officers.

This is dishonest gamesmanship by Batista. King used the terms unfounded, unsubstantiated, and retract. Rather than address King’s point, he played word games.

Touché to you, Eric. Great game of gotcha. Now where did “without sustaining” come from? Because it wasn’t the DOJ.

I have a theory. Wag the dog.

New England Police Benevolent Association statement on Facebook, about 1 hour and 22 minutes after the city released its statement about the closing of the DOJ investigation.

DOJ Pattern or Practice Investigation Process

When the DOJ opens a pattern or practice investigation, a civil investigation conducted by its Civil Rights Division, it uses three major phases.

1. Investigation, Fact Finding and Evaluation
2. Findings and Public Report
3. Remediation and Reform

The process never entered the third step in Worcester.

Prior to the Trump Administration the third step included a negotiation process between the DOJ and the investigated to agree on reforms the municipality would undertake. The DOJ would frequently either issue a memoranda of agreement, outlining the agreement with the municipality, or take the negotiated agreement to a federal court as a consent decree. A consent decree enabled the court to enforce the agreement on the municipality.

The Trump Administration has largely abandoned these investigations. On May 21, 2025, the DOJ announced it would dismiss ongoing consent decrees with the Louisville, Kentucky Metro Police and the Minneapolis Police Department. The same announcement also said that it would retract findings reached during the Biden Administration in the following cities:

• Phoenix, Arizona
• Trenton, New Jersey
• Memphis, Tennessee
• Mount Vernon, New York
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Louisiana State Police

Notably, DOJ released its finding report on the Mount Vernon, New York Police department just three days after it released the report on the WPD.

Yet even the Trump Administration’s DOJ waited nearly 15 months before closing the investigation in Worcester, after it claims it did minimal, but some, due diligence. Even with its embarrassingly low standards, it did more in Worcester than nearly any other city.

If Worcester was Serious About Police Reform

Although the Trump Administration dropped the consent decree with Minneapolis, the mayor and chief of police there have publicly committed to fully implementing that agreement. Even though they are under no obligation to do so. That is leadership serious about police reform.

The Trump DOJ never engaged in the negotiation process with the City of Worcester. Yet city officials, if they were serious, have plenty of appropriate guidance.

According to a Worcester Regional Research Bureau report issued in January 2023, around three months after the DOJ announced its investigation of the Worcester Police Department, the DOJ had issued 21 consent decrees. A serious effort at reform would thoroughly review those agreements and draw from those policy prescriptions as appropriate.

Look at the dashboard the City of Chicago built to track its progress toward the goals outlined in its concent decree.

Then look at this embarrassment that is the information hub for the City of Worcester’s response to the DOJ report.

Which one is serious? The Chicago Police Department has received substantial criticism for its reform efforts, yet it remains miles ahead of Worcester’s incrementalism.

As Batista said in his Aug. 14 statement, “to state otherwise only serves to further divide us.”

The Big Lie – 19 Recommendations

City officials, including Batista and Mayor Joe Petty, have continually promoted the WPD’s compliance with the 19 recommendations included in the DOJ’s findings report.

Those recommendations mean very little. The actual work happens in the negotiation process between the DOJ and the municipality.

For example:

• Seattle Police Department
  • Findings Report Issued: Dec. 16, 2011
  • Findings report recommendations: six
  • Consent decree: 75 pages long
• Newark Police Department
  • Findings Report Issued: July 22, 2014
  • Findings report recommendations: zero
  • Consent decree: 78 pages long
• Cleveland Division of Police
  • Findings Report issued: Dec. 4, 2014.
  • Findings report recommendations: zero
  • Consent decree: 110 pages long
• Chicago Police Department
  • Findings Report Issued: Jan. 13, 2017
  • Findings report recommendations: 19
  • Consent decree: 236 pages long
• Louisville Metro Police Department
  • Findings Report Issued: March 8, 2023
  • Findings report recommendations: 36
  • Consent decree: 236 pages long
• Minneapolis Police Department
  • Findings Report Issued: June 16, 2023
  • Findings report recommendations: 28
  • Consent decree: 171 pages long

It’s all there for them if they were serious. They aren’t.

Full text of body of the DOJ letter:

Re: Department of Justice Investigation into the Worcester Police Department

Dear Mr. Kelly:

I write regarding the Department of Justice’s investigation of the Worcester Police Department (WPD) pursuant to 34 U.S.C. § 12601. Our investigation focused on allegations of use of force and sexual contact during undercover operations. As explained below, the Department is closing this matter.

Since our December 9, 2024 findings report, WPD has taken a number of important steps and shared substantial information with us. We requested, and WPD produced, existing and updated policies, training materials, incident reports, body-worn camera video, and complaint investigations related to use of force and sexual misconduct allegations. We reviewed all reported uses of force by WPD officers from July 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025, with the assistance of a subject-matter expert. On July 14, 2026, our team met with WPD leadership and personnel, including Chief Saucier. In addition, WPD clarified its policies to demonstrate a strengthened use-of-force review and explicit prohibition against officers engaging in sexual contact while on duty.

Based on these developments and lack of current allegations concerning the conduct that was subject to the original investigation, we are closing this matter without further action. We thank Chief Saucier and WPD for their cooperation, and we commend WPD for taking steps to improve its practices.

King image credit: Facebook | Batista image credit: City of Worcester

Governor Appoints First Massachusetts Heat Resilience Officer

WORCESTER – Governor Maura Healey announced the appointment Katie Schlick as the first Massachusetts Heat Resistance Officer at Clark University in Worcester on Thursday, August 13. The position leads coordination across state government and works with local communities to prepare for rising temperatures, protect public health, and reduce impacts of extreme heat.

“Extreme heat is the deadliest weather hazard in the U.S., killing more Americans than hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and other weather hazards combined,” said Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer. “Extreme heat and droughts have caused global crop losses this year and threaten water supplies, as well as infrastructure, like railways and runways, that was not built to withstand these temperatures.”

Most recently, Schlick worked on federal and external affairs and led the resilience portfolio at the U.S. Climate Alliance, supporting states in developing and implementing resilience and extreme heat strategies. She previously served as Special Assistant to the White House National Climate Advisor, where she helped advance national climate policy and coordinate major initiatives. Schlick graduated from Yale University.

“Amidst another record-breaking year of heat and smoke, Massachusetts is taking bold, coordinated action to protect and uplift our communities,” said Schlick.

Schlick reports jointly to Climate Chief Hoffer and Department of Public Health (DPH) Commissioner Robbie Goldstein, MD, PhD. She will coordinate across state agencies, including the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

A donation from the Boston Foundation funds the position.

Clark University is home to the Human-Environment Regional Observatory (HERO) Program. HERO researchers have studied how communities experience environmental change and how local planning can reduce climate risks.

Image courtesy of Clark University