“We have to get something going here,” the Worcester prosecutor, Jane A. Sullivan, wrote in an email just before 1 p.m. on April 19, 2018.
He argued that police in many departments fear that sustaining credibility concerns against their most productive officers could render them useless. Worcester police have long been aware of the implications that sustained allegations of untruthfulness can have on an officer.
Pineiro alleged that police in those units routinely use excessive force, lie in reports, exhibit racial animus and fabricate evidence, and that Early was violating defendants’ rights by failing to inform them of officers whose credibility was suspect.
In his 2018 letter, Pineiro asserted that Early was shirking his legal duty to investigate and disclose credibility and misconduct problems he alleged existed within Worcester’s most elite units.
Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts and Washington also declined to release information they may have. DOJ’s Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., denied a FOIA request for any materials referencing the complaint, saying its records “pertain to an ongoing law enforcement proceeding.”.
They have also noted that Pineiro’s son has been arrested by some of the officers whose integrity he questioned. Pineiro — who has been suing city police since his son was a toddler — has called those criticisms deflection by officials trying to obscure pervasive problems in the department.
He then assigned a prosecutor to conduct a review, and also forwarded the complaint to a federal prosecutor in Worcester. The federal prosecutor, Greg A. Friedholm, sent the complaint to local supervisors in the DEA and FBI.
(AP) — A Worcester woman has filed a lawsuit against the city alleging that two city police officers used excessive force and violated federal law when they pinned her 10-year-old autistic son to the ground with their knees on his neck and legs and broke a bone in his arm.
Beshai Torres, concerned because the boy had not been taking his medications, called 911 for an ambulance to take him to see a doctor, her attorney, Hector Pineiro, said in a statement Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT. The officers arrived at the scene before the ambulance and Beshai Torres told them of her son’s diagnosis.
According to the suit, the boy threw small package of chips toward the officers that landed on the ground. The police then dragged the boy from the vehicle, pinned him face down on the ground to handcuff him and twisted his right arm as he screamed, according to the suit.
WORCESTER, MA — Worcester taxpayers have paid more than $4 million since 2010 to settle almost 30 lawsuits against the police department, according to records gathered by the group Defund WPD.
Worcester taxpayers have spent over $4 million since 2010 to settle lawsuits against the police department, according to Defund WPD — and there are more than a dozen lawsuits still outstanding. (Neal McNamara/Patch)
In a news release, Defund WPD said it wants the Worcester police budget cut by $4 million in 2022, with that money diverted to "public health, job training, education and stable housing.". The group is also asking Attorney General Maura Healey and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the department.
The DOJ often sues local police departments to force them to comply with reforms. The DOJ recently investigated the Springfield police narcotics unit, finding that officers routinely violated the civil rights of city residents.
The most expensive settlement among the 27 publicized Monday by Defund WPD was a $2.1 million payout to Nga Truong, who was forced in 2008 to confess to suffocating her son.
The proposed 2022 police budget is $52.7 million, about $700 higher than 2021.