Worcester Council Votes 8-3 Against Civilian Police Review Board, Orders New Accountability Reports Instead
WORCESTER, MA — Worcester city councilors voted 8-3 Tuesday night to set aside a proposal for an independent civilian board to review police conduct, according to the official Journal of the City Council. The same night, councilors unanimously ordered two new city reports on police accountability, including one that will track misconduct and use-of-force incidents twice a year going forward.
The civilian review board item had been in front of the council for months before Tuesday’s vote. City records show the item was first held over by Councilor Khrystian King on July 21 and held again by Mayor Joseph Petty on Aug. 18, before finally coming up for discussion at the Sept. 8 meeting.
Chief Equity Officer Kevin Lovaincy presented the administration’s recommendation against creating a review board, according to the meeting record. Every one of the council’s 11 members, including Mayor Petty, spoke on the item at some point during the discussion, and the Police Chief, Chief Equity Officer and City Clerk all answered councilor questions at various points. The council recessed at 9:36 p.m., reconvened at 9:46 p.m., and adjourned at 11:51 p.m.
The council ultimately voted 8-3 to place the item on file, a procedural move that closes out the matter without creating a review board. Mayor Petty, and councilors Bergman, Economou, Fresolo, Mitra, Rivera, Rosen and Toomey voted in favor of filing it. Bilotta, King and Ojeda voted against, the roll call shows.
Before that final vote, councilors approved two related measures without opposition. One, moved by Ojeda, directs the city to report on why arrests have increased over the past five years, with the stated goal of using that information at neighborhood meetings to help reduce arrests. The second, moved by Satya Mitra, requires the city to deliver a report twice a year tracking specific, measurable police department goals, including the number of misconduct cases and how often officers used excessive force. Both orders passed 11-0.
A separate motion by King requesting a copy of a Worcester Regional Research Bureau report titled “Overdue for Civilian Oversight: A Pathway for Lasting Police Reform” was withdrawn before a vote, according to the record, meaning the council has not made an official request for that document through this item.
Tuesday’s vote follows a federal civil rights investigation into the Worcester Police Department. The U.S. Department of Justice opened the investigation in November 2022 and announced its findings in December 2024, concluding there was reasonable cause to believe the department and the city engaged in a pattern of excessive force and other misconduct. City Manager Eric Batista said in a public statement last month that the DOJ closed the investigation in early August, citing reforms the department made both before and after the 2024 findings.
The review board question could resurface soon in a different form. According to Tuesday’s City Council agenda, a Worcester resident has submitted a separate petition asking the council to consider adopting, in part or in whole, a document titled “Executive Summary: A Proposal for Police Reform in Worcester.” That petition is scheduled to come before the council at its Sept. 15 meeting.
What’s Up Worcester could not confirm a specific cost estimate for what an independent civilian review board would have required; no dollar figure appears in the official record of Tuesday’s discussion. What’s Up Worcester plans to request comment directly from councilors on their votes and to follow the Sept. 15 police-reform petition as it moves through committee.
🔎 W.U.W. Verification Box
- Project / Topic: Worcester City Council vote on a proposed civilian police review board, and related police accountability measures
- Current Status: The Council voted 8-3 on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, to place the review board communication on file, declining to pursue it. Two related accountability report orders passed 11-0 the same night.
- Key Dates or Decisions: DOJ investigation opened November 2022; findings released December 2024; investigation closed by DOJ, per a city statement, in early August 2026; Council vote held Sept. 8, 2026; a related citizen police-reform petition is on the Sept. 15, 2026 agenda.
- Estimated Cost: No cost estimate for a civilian review board appears in the official record of the Sept. 8 discussion.
- Timeline: The city’s biannual police accountability report (ordered 11-0) is expected on a twice-yearly cadence going forward; no specific first due date is listed in the record reviewed.
- Immediate Next Steps: A separate police-reform petition is scheduled for the Sept. 15, 2026 council meeting. What’s Up Worcester plans to seek direct comment from councilors on their votes.
- Primary Sources: Official Journal of the Worcester City Council, Sept. 8, 2026; City Council agenda, Sept. 15, 2026; U.S. Department of Justice press releases (2022 and 2024); City Manager Eric Batista’s public statement on the DOJ investigation’s closure.
- What We Do Not Yet Know: A specific cost estimate for a civilian review board; whether the council will obtain the Worcester Regional Research Bureau’s report after King’s request for it was withdrawn; and how councilors will handle the Sept. 15 police-reform petition.
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