Worcester Police Getting the Job Done For Now

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Worcester Police are getting praise for having been part of finding the newborn baby that was taken from suspected murder victim Darlene Haynes.  The last few weeks have not been good for PR for police departments in the area.  Cambridge and Boston Police departments have had to deal with incidents that have not brought out the best of what the public in general might think of their police.  Keep in mind that one incident or one person does not represent the whole.  Policing is not as simple as some might think and it was great to hear a good story about police thanks to the Worcester Police Department.

Unfortunately the department is going to be dealing with possible staff reductions since they did not receive grant money from a Department of Justice.  According to an NECN report 24 officers are at risk since the department was counting on getting part of the $1billion that was being distributed.  Ironically the reason for not getting the funds is that the departments crime statistics are better so funds are going to areas where crime has been more of a problem.

Another recent good story about the Worcester Police Department that jumped out at me was the renovation of Crystal Park.  The police department was involved in getting the new courts put up and the gang unit is running a camp there for 100 at risk kids.  Programs like this are at risk as the Worcester Police Department works to find money from other outside sources but also from their existing budget.  This has already started with the suspension of the Summer Impact Program so that funds could be moved to pay the salaries of the 24 officers through November 30th.

As the department moves forward with these funding challenges it is even more important for the Crime Watches and citizens in general to work with police to keep crime rates down.

Here are the 2 videos from NECN: