PROVIDENCE – R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Neronha issued an updated protocol for his office’s review of use of force by law enforcement, his office announced Wednesday.
The update will require state and municipal law enforcement agencies to report incidents involving alleged use of excessive force and less-than-deadly force resulting in serious injury. The law enforcement agencies were already required to report incidents of deadly force and custodial deaths. Neronha’s office noted that the protocols were last updated in 2007.
In the case of alleged excessive force, the protocol notes that there also must be evidence, including but not limited to video or other electronic evidence, to warrant additional investigation.
The protocol requires law enforcement agencies to immediately report incidents to the Attorney General’s office, which will conduct an independent review.
“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. Current events made the release of the updated protocol all the more urgent,” Neronha said in a statement. “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.”
