Interim police chief interviewed for ShotSpotter job before Worcester promotion

WORCESTER — Following news that Interim Police Chief Paul B. Saucier interviewed for a position at the company behind the gunshot detection system ShotSpotter last year, Saucier said Monday he does not have purchasing power over ShotSpotter and would consult with the law department over potential recusals.

Sunday, the Patch published a story reporting that Saucier filed a conflict-of-interest form in July 2023, when he was a deputy chief, detailing the possibility that he might pursue employment at SoundThinking, the California company previously known as ShotSpotter Inc.

In a statement sent via email, Saucier said he had one telephone interview in August for a customer service director position that involved "[connecting] with police departments who currently use the technology and [advising] them on best practices."

Saucier said he stopped pursuing the job following Chief Steven M. Sargent's retirement in early September and Saucier's selection for the interim chief role.

The Telegram & Gazette obtained the conflict-of-interest form Monday through a public records request.

In the form dated July 26, 2023, Saucier disclosed that he had met with SoundThinking under the company's previous name to discuss the purchase of gunshot technology equipment and patrol resources within the prior two years.

Prior to becoming interim chief, Saucier was known to be an advocate for the use of technology in the Police Department such as ShotSpotter. He wrote in the disclosure form that he has met with ShotSpotter to discuss purchases since 2014, the date the Police Department integrated ShotSpotter into the Real Time Crime Center.

Saucier wrote in the form that he believed there was a low risk of favoritism as he was not the final word on whether the city purchases the equipment. His role was advising Sargent on whether the technology would benefit the city and he wrote that he had not consulted with the chief on technological purchases in the prior two years.

In his statement to the Telegram & Gazette, Saucier wrote that he was the city's subject expert on ShotSpotter, which detects gunshot sounds within 8 square miles of the city. Sensors on city streets pick up sound waves and a public safety office in California monitors the sensors while an AI algorithm determines whether the sound is a gunshot.

"I have always had an interest in the field of public safety technology, and I would research different programs other departments were doing in an effort to move the Worcester Police Department forward as we were behind most police departments when it came to technology," Saucier said. "I was the project manager for the creation of our Real Time Crime Center, and I had done extensive research on ShotSpotter and became the department’s subject matter expert. The city then acquired ShotSpotter and that was 10 years ago."

Saucier added that his opinions were based on his 30 years in criminal justice and his research into practices from other departments.

Saucier learned about the SoundThinking job opening from the company's website and was already considering retiring from the Police Department, he said.

"Since I had worked with this product for nearly 10 years, I thought the most prudent thing to do was to file the disclosure," Saucier wrote.

After having one phone interview in August, Saucier said he learned that deputy chiefs were being interviewed to become interim chief. He then applied for the interim chief position and withdrew his application with SoundThinking immediately after.

"If we were going to try to purchase any technology the request would go through the budget process and the final decision is ultimately up to the council and the city manager, not me," Saucier said.

Saucier has defended the use of ShotSpotter in the media and to the City Council's Standing Committee on Finance this year, following reporting of leaked ShotSpotter locations from Wired and the American Civil Liberties Union Massachusetts that found the company places its microphone sensors primarily in low-income communities of color, leading to wrongful arrests.

ShotSpotter has long come under criticism that it perpetuates biased policing. Officials in cities such as Chicago, Seattle and Houston have either promised to move away from ShotSpotter or have taken steps to end their relationship with the company.

After Sens. Edward J. Markey and Elizabeth Warren, both Massachusetts Democrats, joined a letter questioning whether the federal government should fund ShotSpotter's placement in communities through the Urban Area Security Initiative grant program, Saucier told the Telegram & Gazette in May that the department would not know where a lot of gunfire happened in the city without the technology.

In a statement, City Manager Eric D. Batista stood behind Saucier and said he handled the disclosure properly.

"I have full confidence in Interim Chief Saucier and his commitment to serving the City of Worcester. He filed conflict of interest disclosures in compliance with state and municipal protocol," Batista wrote. "And given his thirty plus years of experience researching and working with public safety technology, I do not have any concerns of his judgment to suggest proper technological tools to assist with public safety in the city. Ultimately, any contract is signed off on by the administration and City Council."

After over nine months, Saucier is still only chief in an interim capacity. Thomas Matthews, a spokesperson for the city, said the city is waiting on the state Legislature to pass a bill that would allow Worcester to remove the chief and deputy chief positions from civil service after the City Council approved the change to the hiring process for the chief and deputy chiefs in March.

The police chief is one of four city department head positions that is not currently filled in a permanent capacity. Both the Departments of Inspectional Services and Public Facilities have had interim department heads for less than a month while the search for a chief equity officer is ongoing after a leading candidate rejected an offer in January, Matthews said.

The job opening for chief of facilities has closed and the city will soon begin interviewing for the role while the commissioner of inspectional services position should soon be posted, Matthews said.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Interim police chief interviewed for ShotSpotter job before promotion