WORCESTER, Mass. - Worcester’s Interim Police Chief Paul Saucier is settling into his new role with the department following the retirement of former Chief Steven Sargent. 

While crime fell last year compared to 2021, Saucier singled out gun violence as a major area of concern moving forward. He said the department is in the process of creating a crime gun intelligence center in partnership with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives.

“That way, we can get our shell casings and our weapons analyzed quicker so we can try to link shootings together, because there’s not a hundred people out there pulling the trigger," Saucier said. "There’s a select few, and if we can identify them and remove them, that would bring our shootings down.”

Saucier, who has been with the department for 29 years, also said recruiting has been a challenge in recent years and believes it limits the effectiveness of community policing. The department is authorized to have 382 police officers, but it currently has 346, a deficit of 36 officers.

“The city's gracious enough to give us a class every year," Saucier said. "But as you can see all around the country, there's a problem retaining and hiring officers. We have a robust recruitment team out there right now. As a matter of fact, there's a a recruitment fair at Polar Park today. So they're going to be out there once we establish that we're back at our specified numbers. That's when we start to infuse more officers into the community policing model, utilizing the precincts.”

Saucier couldn’t comment on the ongoing Department of Justice investigation into the Worcester Police Department. Launched in November, the investigation is looking into whether the WPD has a pattern or practice of excessive force or engages in discriminatory policing based on race or sex.

Saucier said he’s “very interested” in taking over as a permanent chief, saying he otherwise wouldn’t have taken the interim position. 

Chief Steven Sargent retired after 37 years with the department, the last seven of which he served as chief. According to a report from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette on Aug. 17, Worcester Officer Robert J. Belsito is threatening to sue the city over alleged harassment he received from Sargent, including a road rage incident in April.