City officials in Providence are considering an ordinance aimed at racial profiling by the police. The measure is known as the Community Safety Act. And advocates say it’s needed to address discrimination against minorities, especially in heavily policed neighborhoods.
But public safety officials have concerns about some parts of the ordinance that they say would harm the police force’s work to prevent crime. Rhode Island Public Radio’s John Bender discussed the proposal with news director Elisabeth Harrison.
LIS: So the ordinance, the Community Safety Act, comes at a time when race and police conduct are all part of a national conversation. In Providence, we’ve seen video of a woman, who appears to be dragged by the hair by a city police officer… and a local poet, a black man named Christopher Johnson has gone public with his story of being wrongly arrested on his way home one evening. He says the officer lied about what happened during the arrest… A the same time, Providence Police have for some years now embraced community policing, and they say they are working toward a more diverse police force. What are advocates saying about the necessity of this ordinance.
JOHN: The group that drafted the ordinance includes a variety of organizations that work with minority groups, young people, people of color. They work in some of the cities poorer neighborhoods… places where some residents say they feel unfairly targeted by police.
Many of the advocates are students and adults who maintain they’re regularly stopped, harassed, and sometimes photographed by city police. This is all anecdotal, for the most part, but these personal stories were front a center during the first public hearing on the measure last week.
LIS: What specifically would this ordinance do?
JOHN: Well, there are essentially 12 major items in the proposal. But the biggest focus is to prohibit racial profiling, or really any profiling or discrimination by police.
Of course, racial profiling is already against the law and the Providence police code of conduct, but this ordinance would take some extra steps. For example, it defines profiling more specifically, using terms like color, national origin, ethnicity and sexual orientation where right now the police code of conduct says only that police will perform their duties impartially, without regard for race, status, or sex.
Vanessa Flores-Maldonado is the spokeswoman for the Step Up network which is organizing this campaign. She feels a broader definition for profiling would make a difference.
Vanessa Flores-Maldonado: It’s not semantics because I want to make sure that everyone in my neighborhood is protected. Everyone in my community is protected. And it is important that we outline that. I think the more expansive we are, the more we’re protecting as many people as possible.
LIS: What are some of the other changes advocates are asking police to make?
JOHN: The Community Safety Act would stop Providence Police from asking about immigration status or holding people for federal immigration authorities. It outlines some specific guidelines for documenting stops, like filling out what’s being called a standardized encounter form. This again is something that already exists in state law, but it applies to traffic stops. Advocates want to expand it to all stops, like pedestrian stops. And they want Providence Police to start using video like police body cameras, or dashboard cameras, to officially record stops.
LIS: This ordinance was first proposed about two years ago, in 2014 and it failed to move forward. That was before Mayor Jorge Elorza took office. John, what position is the mayor taking on the ordinance?
JOHN: Well, Mayor’s office is being pretty tight-lipped right now. The mayor’s spokeswoman Emily Crowell said Elorza would wait to weigh in until after the public hearing. She told me he has met with the groups advocating for the proposal, at least once, and other members of the city staff have met with them as well.
LIS: And what about Providence Police? In the past they’ve raised serious concerns about some parts of this ordinance.
JOHN: Well they too are taking a careful approach in terms of what they’re saying publicly. They have been meeting with the Step Up Network. This is what Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements says about it.
Hugh Clements: There continue to be conversations between myself, the commissioner, the mayor’s office, the city council, proponents of the CSA on a daily basis, as to how we can craft language to better fit the needs of the community, that are acceptable to in our mode of operation in policing.
JOHN: What he’s referring to there is that in 2014, when this was first proposed, Providence’s Public Safety Commissioner told the Providence Journal it could severely hamper police work. And there are several items that seem like they would be very difficult for police to agree to.
The first involves the gang database. This is a list used by the Providence police to keep track of people who may be involved in gangs. It’s existed since at least 2004, when a department memo said there were some 500 people in the database. The CSA would require police to inform anyone listed that they’re part of this database, explain why they were included, and provide a process to appeal the designation.
LIS: What is the concern for police about that?
JOHN: Well, in 2014, police said that could have a chilling effect on their ability to effectively investigate gang activity, especially if they are trying to avoid tipping off a person who’s under investigation. Another area of concern in the ordinance involves the power of the Providence External Review Board. This is a board that already exists to deal with allegations of police misconduct. The CSA would allow the board to make recommendations to move money out of the police budget, for violations of the CSA. It would also allow the board to review police labor contracts. The makeup of the board would change too — it would have five members, one appointed by each of three community groups – The Olneyville Neighborhood Association, PRYSM, a youth advocacy group and DARE, a low-income and minority rights group. The other two members would be appointed by the City Council and the mayor.
LIS: So what’s the next step for this ordinance, are we likely to see some kind of compromise with law enforcement?
JOHN: Well, the advocate I spoke to, Vanessa Flores-Maldonado, said ‘no.’ She feels they’ve already made plenty of changes to the CSA, and they don’t want to water this down so much that it becomes meaningless. However I also spoke with another advocate, Hillary Davis, from the American Civil Liberties Union in Rhode Island. They’re supporting the act, and Davis sounded more open to compromise.
Hillary Davis: Any piece of legislation, any ordinance, is constantly in flux until it’s done. I think once we have a better understanding of some of the concerns, I think everyone will be able to move forward with all of that information in hand.
LIS: John what about the Providence City Council, are members supportive of the CSA?
JOHN: It’s a little unclear where the city councilors will go with this. As with any proposed ordinance, it would need at least eight of the city’s 15 councilors to vote in favor for the measure to pass. If the mayor vetoes the ordinance, it would take 10 council votes to override the veto.
The advocates say this ordinance would be the first of its kinds in the country — I could not verify that — but the ACLU says it would certainly be much more expansive than many ordinances dealing with these issues in other cities and towns.
