The release of a blistering Department of Justice report on Worcester’s police force may seem like a watershed moment of sorts for the city. However, affected communities say its contents are long-known.

The report doesn’t include a consent decree, or any sort of legal agreement between investigators and city officials. No lawsuit was filed.

The police department in Worcester allowed officers to engage in sexual contact with women suspected of being involved in the commercial sex trade, according to a Justice Department report.

While Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty said he’s taking the findings of a revelatory Department Of Justice report on the Worcester Police Department “very seriously,” he also wants to see the data behind the report.

The Justice Department alleged Worcester police engaged in a “pattern or practice” of sexual misconduct involving women suspected of prostitution.

Both the patrol officers and supervising officers unions called for disclosing the names of those involved in the investigation.

A Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation found city police used excessive force, engaged in sexual misconduct and engaged in discriminatory enforcement.

A Worcester pastor shares his troubling encounter with police, echoing a DOJ report on civil rights violations, and calls for community oversight.

WORCESTER ― The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday released a 41-page report in which it said it found “reasonable cause” to believe Worcester police engage in a pattern or practice that deprives people of their rights under the Constitution and federal law.

The report alleges excessive force and sexual misconduct, including credible reports that officers sexually assaulted women under threat of arrest.