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Worcester HRC weighs federal lawsuit alleging police response harms people in mental‑health crisis
Summary
At its July meeting the Human Rights Commission reviewed a March 2026 federal complaint saying Worcester 911 dispatches armed police first to mental‑health calls and noted Department of Justice findings that officers ‘‘rapidly escalat[e] situations’’ in behavioral‑health encounters; commissioners agreed to ask WPD for training data at an August briefing.
The Worcester Human Rights Commission spent the bulk of its July meeting discussing a federal complaint filed in March 2026 by the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Central Massachusetts and the Parent Professional Advocacy League alleging the city’s default 911 response sends armed police officers first to many behavioral‑health calls.
Vice chair Randy Feldman summarized the complaint’s core claim: "The complaint says that when Worcester residents suffer ... mental health emergencies ... the city's default response ... is to dispatch armed officers, instead of qualified health responders." Feldman cited a Department of Justice review saying WPD officers "rapidly escalat[e] situations" and that officers often lack crisis‑specific expertise.
Commissioners pressed for factual details. Father Jonathan Slavinskas asked whether the lawsuit’s examples relied on body‑camera footage, settlements or eyewitness testimony; Feldman said the filing includes a mix of incidents and that one cited case followed a 2018 settlement. Several commissioners expressed concern about training levels and the number of officers who have completed behavioral‑health training—Feldman noted fewer than 25% of the force have completed optional training listed in the complaint.
The commission agreed to pursue information from the Worcester Police Department and to ask staff to compile commissioners’ questions for an August briefing. "We thought that we were gonna do this in August," Clerk Carrie Witherell said, confirming staff would forward suggested questions and schedule the department’s appearance.
The HRC did not take a formal policy vote at the meeting. Commissioners described prior recommendations to WPD (dating to April 2025) that they said produced little change and debated whether to make a motion urging the city manager to increase the department’s hiring of crisis clinicians; no motion was adopted.
