Rhode Island Senate passes LEOBOR reforms amid criticism

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The Rhode Island Senate passed the Law Enforcement Officers’ Due Process, Accountability and Transparency Act, a reform to the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights.

The passage did not come without criticism, as both the Rhode Island Black, Latino, Indigenous, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander Caucus as well as the Rhode Island Black Lives Matter PAC said the legislation was not extensive enough.

The legislation establishes a five-member hearing committee consisting of three qualified and randomly selected law enforcement officers, a retired judge, and an attorney, a two-tier suspension structure ranging from a five to 14-day summary suspension, and requires the status of all hearings to be published online.

An amendment passed to the bill also includes the requirement that body camera footage be made available via public records request.

“While there will be some who say this bill goes too far and others who say it doesn’t go far enough, I think the bill strikes a responsible balance that brings necessary and appropriate reforms to LEOBOR,” Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, who introduced the legislation, said. “Throughout this process, we who worked on it in the Senate sought to both recognize the unique and dangerous work of the dedicated law enforcement officers who keep our communities safe and to improve the tools available so that those who violate the public trust can be held accountable.”

Both Sens. Jonathon Acosta and Tiara Mack, on behalf of the RIBLIA caucus, released statements on the passage.

Acosta took issue with the exclusion of the “George Floyd Litmus Test,” which would put a “carve out” in the law to allow the immediate firing of an officer:

The RIBLIA Caucus was clear in what we needed to see within the LEOBOR reform bill in order to garner our support.  Unfortunately, we feel that a key piece of reform is still missing within the legislation that passed and I was unable to support the bill that was before the Senate today.  The floor amendment that I offered would have alleviated these concerns, but regrettably it was voted down.  The simple fact of the matter is that if the George Floyd murder were to have happened in Rhode Island, unlike in Minneapolis where the offending officer was promptly fired the next day, the officer would still be employed and receiving benefits until the lengthy amount of time it would have taken for a criminal trial to conclude.  This is unacceptable to us and why I voted against the bill.

Mack, meanwhile, said the vote against the bill was due to it still allowing officers to keep their jobs despite using deadly force “in violation of their departments’ policy:”

I voted against the Law Enforcement Officers’ Due Process, Accountability and Transparency Act today due to the fact that it would still allow law enforcement officers that have used deadly force, in violation of their departments’ policy, to remain employed until they were convicted of a crime.  Police officers should be held to a higher standard than us all and any officer that takes a life in violation of department rules and regulations should not be allowed to serve in our communities or be paid with our tax dollars.  I wish I could have voted in favor of this legislation, but without the provision offered by Senator Acosta, I could not in good conscience support the legislation.

The BLM PAC also called for the inclusion of the litmus test, and President Harrison Tuttle released the following statement:

The Rhode Island General Assembly must confront the challenge of overcoming the overwhelming influence of police unions so that Black and Brown people can be protected from police violence and communities are safer for everyone. It is only then that we commit to centering police accountability to make that positive vision a reality.

The Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns released the following statement after the passage of the bill:

The League applauds the House and Senate for enacting reforms to the Law Officers’ Bill of Rights which will improve transparency and address serious flaws in the system while maintaining officers’ due process rights. We are grateful for the collaborative efforts of the bill sponsors, the Police Chief’s Association, and law enforcement over the past several years to reach a compromise. We thank the honorable, professional officers for their service to our communities.

The bill now goes to the governor’s office for consideration.