WPD: An eternal affair

The Daily Worcesteria just hung up from WPD spokesman Sgt. Kerry Hazelhurst, clearly tired of the amount of publicity his department has been dealing with over the past few weeks (investigations over double dipping cops, the Telegram’s report on their high fees for public records, the ACLU lawsuit).

So what did the Sgt. have to say?

• On the ACLU lawsuit, Hazelhurst says that the requests filed by the civil liberties organization for arrests in schools by gender, race, and age went “above and beyond what the law requires.” Hazelhurst says that it’s clear the ACLU is trying to say minorities are the target of more arrests, but that skin color doesn’t factor into department arrests. Despite the upgrades over the past several years in the crime analysis systems that allow neighborhood-by-neighborhood analysis, Hazelhurst says teasing out the requested data is a time consuming process. In any case, Hazelhurst allows that the department will eventually piece together
  the requested information. “It’s a manpower issue. We’ll get there, it’s just not going to be happening over night.”
• As for those officers accused of double-dipping and reassigned to other units, Hazelhurst says there’s no issue with them doing details or working overtime. Detail is an entirely different situation, he says, and “just because they’ve been reassigned doesn’t mean they’re not allowed to work extra.” Hazelhurst also tells us that the investigation is continuing back into 2007, but is generally focusing on the same pool of officers. He touts the software that easily breaks down hours and pay into different segments, including different types of overtime, and says it’s why the officers were caught, and what will be used to look further back in time. Still, “[There’s] not going to be a witch hunt.”