BREAKING: Mayor Petty Defends His Leadership and Gemme in Face of Crime Wave

Wednesday, August 05, 2015

With critics calling for the State Police and National Guard to come into Worcester to slow the crime wave, Mayor Joe Petty issued a statement tonight defending his leadership and that of Police Chief Gary Gemme.

The crime problem hit a low point when a two-year-old was wounded in a shooting at Plumley Village - the child's mother was also wounded.

Statement by Mayor Joseph M. Petty on recent proposals to increase the presence of outside law enforcement agencies in Worcester:

I have full confidence in Chief Gemme and the Police Officers of Worcester. The Worcester Police know our community and our neighborhoods. We have a great community policing program as well as the Police Summer Impact Unit. Law Enforcement on all levels are already working together to solve the problem of violence in our community. They are working under the leadership of Police Chief Gary Gemme. But when guns are easy to obtain, you end up with guns in the wrong hands. Unfortunately right now, we have gang members with small minds carrying big guns.

I am disappointed in some of my council colleagues who try to have it both ways. You can’t vote against funding for the police and then claim that they don’t have enough money. You can’t call for level funding the budget and then say we don’t have enough cops. You can’t file orders one day supporting the police and then show a total lack of respect for their professionalism the next.

I am asking my colleagues to stand with me in my support of the Worcester Police Department. We need everyone in this fight. We need the Worcester Police, we need neighborhood crime watch groups and we need community groups, all who know the neighborhoods of Worcester.

Related Slideshow: Worcester Crime Trends and Lack of Police Transparency

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After a spike in heroin overdose deaths - nine suspected in the first week of August alone - the city of Worcester declared a public health advisory. While the city works to combat the issue, many questioned if the efforts were too little, too late, especially when Police Chief Gemme announced that the Police Department - after six months of training - still wasn't carrying Narcan.

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Gemme Highest Paid City Employee

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While crime has certainly been an issue in the city of Worcester, the police force is certainly being paid well. As reported by the Worcester Telegram, Police Chief Garry Gemme topped the list of highest paid city officials, earning a gross pay of $199,430 in 2013.

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Worcester Crime Still Spiraling

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According to a nationwide crime survey of America's cities by Congressional Quarterly, Worcester slid into the bottom quartile of the most crime riddled cities. Worcester ranked 306th out of 400 qualified cities in regards to crime.

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Graffiti Issues in Worcester

January 2014

Local businesses and residents in Worcester became outraged when an abundance of graffiti began to appear on buildings throughout the city.

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Worcester: 7th Worst Crime Rate

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When the FBI released their 2012 crime data, many took notice that Worcester had the 7th worst crime rate in all of Massachusetts. Worcester had a total of 1,758 violent crimes, a mixture of murders, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults.

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Worcester Police Dominate Highest Paid

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Gemme Violates Social Media Protocol

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Police Chief Gemme took to his Twitter account to personally attack GoLocalWorcester.com saying, “Prediction.. GoLocal will go defunct before the new recruit class graduates and the new officers will have a long and secure career with WPD.” This comment violated the city's social media policy, barring defamatory remarks and personal attacks.

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Worcester Police Transparency

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The Worcester Telegram had reported that the Worcester Police were one of a group of local police departments that were presenting challenges to the public in regards to looking at police logs, something that is public record by law.

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