Worcester police chief open to leaving civil service, but unions not so sure

WORCESTER ― Interim Worcester Police Chief Paul B. Saucier Monday told the Human Rights Commission he wouldn’t be opposed to, as a recent audit suggested, leaving civil service entirely, though he noted doing so would be difficult.

The Human Rights Commission, at an annual meeting with police that spanned many topics, voted to ask City Manager Eric D. Batista to consider leaving civil service, in large part because of concerns that its tests hamper the ability to hire and promote officers of color.

A recent equity audit commissioned by the city noted the police force does not reflect the demographics of the city and recommended consideration of leaving civil service as part of a strategy to help diversify its ranks.

Civil service is a 140-year-old state-based system that standardizes testing for hiring and promotion for public employees and hears appeals of grievances with the goal of ensuring employment decisions are merit-based and fair.

Commissioners Monday said they believe Worcester police are trying to diversify but are hamstrung by the civil service process, which multiple lawsuits have successfully argued has unfair impacts on candidates of color.

After voting, commission chairwoman Ellen Shemitz asked Saucier whether, if Batista was “open” to pulling out of civil service, that’s something the chief would support.

Saucier replied that he would support it and that he has had conversations with Batista about it. But he noted, as he did earlier in the meeting, that leaving civil service would be a huge undertaking that would involve, among other variables, legislative approval and working with unions.

Asked about the idea of moving away from civil service Tuesday, leaders for the city’s officer and superior officer unions told the Telegram & Gazette that while they’re open to studying the idea, at this point they would oppose it.

The leaders — Thomas B. Duffy II of the officer’s union, NEPBA Local 911 and Sgt. Richard Cipro of International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 504 — both noted there are important protections in civil service law against nepotism and political favoritism.

“Civil Service was designed specifically to ensure candidates are hired based on merit,” Duffy wrote in a statement. “The system protects against political meddling.”

Duffy noted there is pending legislation at the State House that proposes changes to civil service to afford more flexibility in hiring, “while at the same time providing important protections against nepotism, discrimination and other things unrelated to merit."

According to a post from the Massachusetts Municipal Association , the legislation would, among things, allow up to half of entry-level positions to be filled “outside of the traditional civil service exam process” — including allowing hires who haven’t taken the exam — as well as supporting “diversity scholarship models.”

Duffy said the union is concerned leaving civil service altogether might open the door to abuse.

“Putting these decisions into local officials who are subject to shifting political sands is dangerous,” he wrote. “Our union would be very wary of that massive change, as should anyone who values fairness.”

Local 911, as part of its most recent contract, agreed to form a committee with the city to study the issue of leaving civil service. In his statement, Duffy said the union “would explore every detail through collective bargaining before we could consider,” taking that step.

The city recently authorized Batista, at his suggestion, to ask lawmakers to exempt the Worcester police chief's job and four deputy chief positions from civil service .

Cipro, the leader of Local 504, which represents captains, lieutenants and sergeants, said Wednesday he’d like to see how that plays out before considering leaving altogether.

Cipro said that he’s not philosophically opposed to the idea of leaving civil service, but said the cost of doing so would be very high and the city would need to ensure the same protections under the current system were in place.

Cipro said he understands why Saucier and other police chiefs would support leaving civil service, noting that doing so would give them more flexibility to hire and promote officers who might square with their philosophy or, in their opinion, make the best leaders.

Cipro agreed that the “bubble test,” a multiple-choice test used for many promotions, is an inadequate test of leadership and believes reforms are needed in the process.

Cipro, noting there are ongoing changes under consideration at civil service, said he believes it would make more sense to see how those shake out before considering leaving. He said there are also mechanisms the city can use to give preference to candidates of color in the hiring process.

“To take the whole department out of civil service is a monumental task,” he said. It takes money to create a test, would require more human resources employees and would also need to be bargained with unions to ensure similar protections and grievance processes were carried forward.

He also noted that cities that have left civil service have compensated unions for doing so, another expense the city would have to consider.

The department is currently down about 60 officers and, like others across the nation, is having trouble recruiting candidates in general , beyond struggles with diversity.

Human Rights Commission members, in making the suggestion, said they didn’t mean to say the department hasn’t been trying to diversify, and Saucer said he believes the department has made real strides in that arena.

A spokesman for the department, Lt. Sean Murtha, told the commission the 2024 application class was larger and more diverse than for the 2022 exam.

There were 237 exam-takers — up from 117, he said — and the number of Black applicants increased from 16 to 52.

Overall, he said, the number of candidates of color and female candidates increased, with more than a third of the candidates being women.

Results of the test are expected in late May or early June, police said.

While commission members praised police for their efforts, they also noted that the current makeup of the department, as the equity audit found, does not reflect the city it serves.

As commission member Randy Feldman noted, the equity audit found that about 80% of officers, and a higher percentage of supervisors, are white, while about 40% of the city’s residents are people of color.

When asked by a commissioner how many Black women serve on the force, Angel Miranda, the department's chief diversity officer, said the number is currently one.

“Once this class graduates, the numbers are going to change,” said Miranda, who mentioned at the meeting some of the steps he and the department have been taking in recruitment.

The department has, among other things, participated with news outlets in stories about its recruitment efforts, he said, and seen some of its officers of color agree to recruit in their communities.

The department recently linked to social media a lengthy interview in which multiple Ghanaian officers spoke, sometimes in their native language, about their road to becoming police officers in the city.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester police chief open to leaving civil service, but unions not so sure