BS, courtesy of the WPD.

The WPD's Press Release regarding the arrests of Occupy Worcester members contained the following gem:

"These types of mass arrests with passive resistance increase the potential for injury to citizens and officers. It creates a confrontational environment that can quickly deteriorate. As a result of the demonstration and arrest, calls from citizens requesting police service were backed up and police response was delayed.  Thousands of dollars in overtime was expended to deal with the mass demonstration and arrests potentially impacting youth and community programs."

I'm not sure how passive resistance and a non-violent occupation of the Worcester Common on a Saturday night can create the potential for injury for anyone involved.  Didn't we hire a media relations expert for the WPD?  Our new hire should be able to come up with a better excuse for tsk-tsking the occupation of the Worcester Common.

Thousands of dollars were spent to arrest 22 people out of a peaceful crowd for what purpose?  Perhaps next time the WPD and the City Administration shouldn't overreact to citizens engaging in a peaceful protest.  Instead they should focus on the calls from citizens requesting real police service, rather than people setting up tents on the Common.  Rumor has it that the WPD had a delayed reaction time to bar fights on Green Street and Shrewsbury Street because they were rounding up the peaceful people.

What should our priorities be?