Officials take aim at racism: Worcester city manager unveils recommendations to address underlying issues, dismantle systems msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
“I’m extremely disappointed at the cadence with which we and I include myself have moved forward on these issues affecting policing and public health reform and schools and it’s not good enough,” said City Councilor-at-Large Khrystian King. “I would absolutely say I’m frustrated.”
Others were more explicit.
“There has been zero response from the city of Worcester,” said Joseph Hennessey, a retired police officer who now practices law and focuses on police misconduct cases. “If it was such a big priority, they would have acted upon it in May when there was the push in the multiple protests that were happening around the country back then.”
‘Not enough’: Worcester officials vowed to implement changes within its police department; Here’s what the city has done
Updated Feb 03, 2021;
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Officials in Worcester congregated with hundreds in the community last June to protest police brutality following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Mayor Joseph Petty, City Manager Edward Augustus and Police Chief Steve Sargent participated in the demonstration. They marched to the District Courthouse downtown. They took a knee as a sign of solidarity.
As the calendar now flips to 2021, those actions outside City Hall last June remain highlights of what the city has done in the wake of calls for police reform across the country.
Worcester council committee OKs crime forecasting report, further public airing of the technology
WORCESTER At a City Council subcommittee meeting Monday night, residents continued to voice concerns over the proposed purchase of crime forecasting technology for the Police Department.
Some residents, including several who represented neighborhood crime watch groups, called in to the Public Safety Committee virtual meeting to support the city s proposed use of ShotSpotter Connect technology, but for more than two hours, many residents criticized the technology, and took issue with how it was presented to the City Council two weeks ago.
The committee voted 3-0 to approve the report Monday, but did not make a recommendation to the full council on whether the city should move forward with the program. The committee voted on orders to arrange meetings on the program with community groups and to have it presented at a citywide crime watch meeting.
COVID vaccine hesitancy exists, particularly among Black, Latinx communities; Here’s how UMass Memorial is helping patients make a decision
Updated Jan 31, 2021;
For some Central Massachusetts residents, weighing whether or not to get a COVID-19 vaccine has led to extensive reading and conversations about potential side effects, efficacy and the rapid speed at which the immunizations were developed, according to physicians who are working to help patients make an informed decision.
These questions can be a particular concern of the Black and Latinx communities because of a history of injustices in health care. Physicians note that hesitancy in vaccine trust exists for good reasons among Black and Latinx Americans, the Tuskegee study a chief example.