Rhode Island AG Releases New Use Of Force Policy For Police

PROVIDENCE, RI — Amid national calls to "defund the police" and require consequences for abuse, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha issued new protocols for department to review use of force incidents in the state. The new policy expands the current requirement for departments to report allow uses of deadly force and deaths in police custody.

"Even before the tragic events of the last month, the Office had been engaged in an internal review, in consultation with Rhode Island’s chiefs of police, of the existing Attorney General protocol for review of deadly force," Neronha said. "Current events made the release of the updated protocol all the more urgent.

"The updated protocol is significant because it expands our review authority to allow for independent review of most police use of force incidents. Our collective goal is to identify, and hold accountable, those officers who use excessive force before it results in death, as happened in the case of George Floyd."

Under the new protocol, police departments will be required to report all reported allegations of excessive force or less-than-deadly force that causes a serious injury. It also creates statewide uniformity and accountability for these incidents, as well as provides guidance for handling these situations. This is the first time the guidelines have been updated since 2007.

"I firmly believe that the attorney general and those in law enforcement have a responsibility to build community trust," Neronha said. "A critical component of building that trust is to hold those officers who ignore their training, best practices, use of force policies and the law accountable."

The Rhode Island Police Chief's Association voiced its support the measure, as well as for Neronha's call for change, endorsing his proposal to pass a law giving his office the authority to conduct civil rights pattern and practice investigations of all government and law enforcement agencies.

"Our job as police officers is to protect those in our communities that we serve, and that includes those in our custody or who are being detained," said President Brian Sullivan, who also serves as the chief of the Lincoln Police Department. "That commitment was broken in Minneapolis by the officers involved in the murder of George Floyd and has been broken elsewhere in our country.

"Here in Rhode Island we hold ourselves to the highest standards of the law enforcement profession, and we need to do everything we can to ensure that those standards are not only met, but are exceeded. This proposed legislation is another step toward achieving that goal, and we thank Attorney General Neronha for his leadership on this vital matter."

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