City Manager Eric Batista pushed back Friday against criticism that Worcester misrepresented the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to close its investigation into the Worcester Police Department, saying the city never claimed federal investigators had retracted their explosive 2024 findings or concluded that the allegations underlying them were unfounded.
Batista’s statement comes a week after the city announced the federal investigation had ended without further action—and after reporting by GBH News raised questions about the city’s characterization of the DOJ’s decision.
The dispute centers on a letter sent last week from the Justice Department to Worcester officials explaining its decision to close the investigation. The letter has not been publicly released by the city or DOJ, although GBH News obtained a copy and reported on its contents this week. The Worcester Guardian also requested several times the letter and comment from the justice department, which responded on Friday, “We will decline to comment at this time.”
The city’s initial Aug. 7 announcement said DOJ had closed the investigation “without further action and without sustaining any allegations from its 2024 report.”
But according to the letter obtained by GBH, the justice department did not say it was retracting or declining to sustain its earlier findings. Instead, federal officials cited changes made by the Worcester Police Department and a lack of current allegations involving the conduct examined by investigators.
“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,” Patrick McCarthy, acting chief of the DOJ’s Special Litigation Section, wrote in the letter.
Batista addressed that distinction directly Friday.
“The municipality’s announcement did not state that the DOJ retracted its findings, nor did it imply that the 2024 allegations were unfounded,” Batista said in his statement. “To state otherwise only serves to further divide us.”
Batista said the city felt obligated to inform residents when it learned that the investigation had been closed and called it “unfortunate” that its announcement had subsequently been mischaracterized.
He also struck a notably measured tone about what the federal decision means for the department.
“The closure of the DOJ investigation is not vindication, but it does reflect our progress and should be recognized,” Batista said.
GBH reported that the DOJ letter details additional work federal investigators conducted after issuing their December 2024 findings. According to GBH, Worcester police provided federal officials with training materials, incident reports, body-camera footage and complaint investigations.
DOJ officials also reviewed all Worcester police complaint investigations involving use of force and sexual misconduct during the second half of 2025 with assistance from a subject-matter expert, according to GBH’s account of the letter.
The letter also noted that DOJ personnel met with Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier and other department personnel on July 14.
According to GBH, McCarthy wrote that updated WPD policies “demonstrate a strengthened use-of-force review and explicit prohibition against officers engaging in sexual conduct while on duty.”
“We thank Chief Saucier and WPD for their cooperation, and we commend WPD for taking steps to improve its practices,” McCarthy wrote, according to GBH.
Batista pointed to those portions of the letter Friday as evidence that Worcester’s reform efforts played a role in the federal decision.
The DOJ letter “directly cites the accountability initiatives my Administration has implemented, including updated policies, training materials, body-worn cameras, and strengthened use of force review,” Batista said.
The controversy erupted after Council Vice Chair Khrystian King accused city leadership Tuesday of portraying the end of the federal investigation as something it was not.
“Inaction is not exoneration, and an abandoned federal process is not vindication,” King said. “The Trump administration’s failure to finish the job does not erase the DOJ’s findings or invalidate the concerns of Worcester residents.”
King specifically disputed any suggestion that the DOJ had rejected its earlier findings.
“Nowhere does the letter conclude that community concerns were unfounded or unsubstantiated, nor does it retract the DOJ’s findings,” King said. “Worcester residents deserve honesty from their government, particularly on matters of public safety, police accountability, and community trust.”
King also accused city leadership of aligning itself with a broader retreat from federal civil rights enforcement under President Donald Trump.
Batista directly rejected that accusation Friday.
“To imply that I am aligned with any dismantling of civil rights protections is a gross distortion of the truth,” Batista said. “In fact, the opposite is true.”
The DOJ began investigating Worcester police in November 2022 and issued its findings in December 2024, concluding there was reasonable cause to believe the department engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that violated the Constitution and federal law.
Federal investigators found Worcester officers used excessive force, including unnecessary use of tasers, police dogs and strikes to the head. DOJ also found the department permitted undercover officers to engage in sexual contact with women suspected of involvement in the commercial sex trade.
Investigators documented allegations from multiple women who said officers subjected them to unwanted sexual contact, exploited them sexually while they were vulnerable or threatened them with arrest if they did not perform sex acts. DOJ also identified racial disparities in policing, although it stopped short of finding an unlawful pattern of racial discrimination.
Batista acknowledged Friday that the findings caused lasting harm.
“As I said at the time of the report’s release, the findings were both shocking and unacceptable,” Batista said. “The report will leave a lasting impact on our community, and I acknowledge the hurt of those affected by such conduct and the concerns community members have.”
He also said the report damaged perceptions of Worcester police officers who are dedicated to public safety, while pushing the city to further strengthen its policies and accountability systems.
Saucier told the Worcester Guardian earlier this week that the department would continue its reform efforts regardless of the end of federal involvement.
“Closing the investigation is significant because policy modernization and the efforts to restructure have not gone unnoticed,” Saucier said. “The allegations in this report were horrible and tarnished the reputation of the Worcester Police Department, which can’t be undone.”
Saucier said the department intends to meet all 274 standards required as it pursues accreditation through the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission, a voluntary process that includes outside evaluation of department policies and evidence of compliance.
King, meanwhile, has renewed his call for an independent civilian review board with subpoena power and access to evidence, arguing that the end of federal involvement makes permanent local oversight more important.
“When Washington changes direction or walks away, Worcester residents should not lose accountability with it,” King said. “That is why we need a permanent, independent Civilian Review Board with subpoena power and access to the evidence.”
The Worcester Civilian Review Board Coalition joined that criticism Friday, disputing Batista’s characterization of the DOJ decision and renewing its push for the City Council to establish an independent oversight board.
The coalition pointed specifically to the scope of the additional review described in the DOJ closing letter. According to the coalition, federal investigators reviewed WPD complaint investigations involving reported uses of force and sexual misconduct from July 1 through Dec. 31, 2025 — a six-month period.
The coalition argued that DOJ’s reference to a “lack of current allegations” should therefore not be interpreted as a rejection of its earlier findings.
“It is not a finding that the 2024 report was inaccurate, and it is not the vindication the City Manager’s statement implies,” the coalition said in its announcement.
The group also questioned whether changes described to federal investigators constitute sufficient independent oversight, arguing that updated policies and practices cited by DOJ were information provided by the police department and its outside counsel.
“A department describing its own progress to the agency that investigated it is not equivalent to independent confirmation that the progress is sufficient, sustained, or complete,” the coalition said. “This is precisely why Worcester needs a permanent, independent Civilian Review Board: to verify progress independently of the department’s own account of itself.”
Batista recommended last month against creating a separate civilian review board, instead proposing that Worcester strengthen existing police oversight mechanisms.
The coalition said Friday that improvements within the department do not eliminate the need for outside oversight and argued that a permanent board would remain in place as city managers, police chiefs, mayors and councilors change.
The group is urging Batista, Mayor Joseph Petty and the City Council to establish a civilian review board and plans to continue that push at the council’s Aug. 18 meeting.
The DOJ’s decision also comes amid a broader shift in federal police oversight. In May 2025, the Trump administration announced it was ending several police pattern-or-practice investigations begun during the Biden administration and retracting findings involving other law enforcement agencies.
The Justice Department declined to comment to GBH about its decision in Worcester.
Batista said Friday that the federal government’s departure does not end Worcester’s responsibility to address problems within its police department.
“It is up to us to follow through on corrective action,” Batista said.
He said he has continued meeting with community members to discuss concerns and potential solutions and plans to address the issue further at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
The Civilian Review Board Coalition will be pushing for a decidedly different outcome at that meeting: creation of the independent oversight board Batista has recommended against.
With the meaning of the DOJ’s departure now itself a matter of dispute, the debate that began with the federal investigation appears poised to return to where much of it has played out for nearly two years — the City Council chamber.
Have a story tip, community concern, or insight to share? Email Editor Charlene Arsenault at carsenault@theworcesterguardian.org.
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