The City Council meeting is Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The agenda is here.
This week: Police, crime stats, financial statements.
Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/91727574825
Boards and Commissions: The City Council will vote whether to reappoint Stephanie Silva to the Advisory Committee on the Status of Women, and Meg Mulhern and John Harrity to the Worcester Ballpark Commission.
Street Sweeping: Spring street sweeping will start on April 1 and take 6-8 weeks. You can sweep sand and debris into the gutter to be swept up, but not leaves or branches. The city’s webpage will presumably be updated with the latest schedule.
USPS Parking Lease: The city will renew the Post Office lease for parking at the Major Taylor Garage. The new lease is for $162k more per year than the old one. This is a 47% increase.
Traffic Lights: The Transportation Commissioner has a report on updates to our traffic signal system. The city is creating a new database mapping the existing signals, and piloting a signal synchronization program. (Such that if a pack of cars caught one green light, and travelled the speed limit, they’d likely catch the next green light.)
Crime Stats: The Police Chief has a report on crime in Worcester in 2023. We saw a drop in stabbings and homicides, but an increase in aggravated assaults, non-fatal shootings, robbery, and reported gunshots. We saw a drop in breaking and entering, vandalism, and larceny from a vehicle. Car thefts increased. Traffic accidents and noise complaints were almost the same. In order to deal with gun violence, they are “establishing a crime gun intelligence center” to link shell casings with firearms with violent career criminals.
Police Audit: The city had a consultant audit “off-duty detail and overtime” records at the WPD. “Aside from the alleged criminal activity of one officer [in July 2022, which inspired the audit], [the consultant] found no incidents of intentional fraud or malicious intentional activity.” They found records with mistakes but not any claiming police worked hours that they didn’t. “In August 2022, the department added a Sergeant to the Off Duty Detail Assignment Office to increase day-to-day oversight in the assignment and tracking of details.”
WPD Racial Equity Audit: The city had a nonprofit research organization audit the WPD in this area. They list lots of initiatives the WPD is doing. In recent years, the WPD has been about 80% White. This has been changing but not quickly. They have some crime stats for 2017-2021. 41% of people arrested were White (52% of the population), 21% were Black (12% of population), and 35% Hispanic (vs 24%). For juvenile arrests, 18% were White (vs. 29%), 29% were Black (vs. 17%), and 49% were Hispanic (vs. 43%).
Police Leadership and Civil Service Requirements: As previously noted the Manager would like the state to let us hire a Chief and Deputy Chief out of a larger pool of people than just those in the Civil Service exam pipeline. The Council will vote whether to put in this request to the state.
Financial Statements: I don’t think there’s anything in these that hasn’t been presented to the Council before, but this week the City Auditor has submitted the city’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the city’s official accounting of Other Post Employment Benefits, and the financial statements of the quasi-governmental Worcester Redevelopment Authority.