The police department in Worcester allowed officers to engage in sexual contact with women suspected of being involved in the commercial sex trade, according to a Justice Department report.

The release of a blistering Department of Justice report on Worcester’s police force may seem like a watershed moment of sorts for the city. However, affected communities say its contents are long-known.

Local police in this central Massachusetts city used excessive force and engaged in “outrageous” sexual contact with women during undercover operations, a two-year civil investigation released Monday by the U.

The police department in Worcester, Massachusetts, has allowed officers to engage in sexual contact with women suspected of involvement in the commercial sex trade while also allowing other civil rights violations.

Worcester police officers were accused of sexually assaulting women, engaging in sex acts with prostitutes, and other “egregious misconduct” in a new scathing report from the

The agency found that the Police Department used excessive force and allowed undercover officers to have sexual contact with women suspected of being prostitutes.

The DOJ investigation also found that the department excessive force and engages in sexual conduct with women suspected of being sex workers.