NEW: Providence Police Task Force Suspended After Recent Abuse Complaints
Thursday, April 16, 2015
GoLocalProv News Team
Providence police have suspended at least some operations of its special task force following recent complaints of excessive force -- and a community leader in Providence is calling for its dismantling, following a recent incident where he said his teenage son and friend were accosted leaving work.
"My son was humiliated and degraded," said Kobi Dennis, community leader and founder of Night Vision. "The 'jump-outs' - they're not known to anyone as the 'task force' - just pulled up on them on Friday, dressed all in black, no uniforms, and went into their backpacks, swearing at them. My son's going to URI next year. They've just ruined a part of his life."
Dennis said that his son and his friend were finishing up work at McDonald's on Branch Avenue and were walking home when the incident occurred. Dennis noted that they both went in to the Police Department to file formal complaints.
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"I know there's been gun violence in the area, and they're looking for guns," said Dennis of the task force. "This isn't about being black, it's about being poor. They picked the wrong kids at the wrong time."
"I called everyone that night. I got [Commissioner Steve] Pare, [Chief Hugh] Clements, and the Mayor -- everyone said they were so sorry," said Dennis, who has been active in police-community relations in the city for years. "I said if this happened to one of your kids, you'd be doing the same the same thing. [Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza] met with me over the weekend. I met with internal affairs, I said I'm taking this out, I'll be talking with everyone."
Providence Chief of Police Clements confirmed that operations on the task force have been altered in light of recent events.
"All I can say is there has been a complaint, and like every complaint we look into it. There were two complainants -- we want to go further into the investigation before putting it back in full operational mode. I can confirm they've been put into a different mode right now," said Clements on the task force on Wednesday, who said he could not identify the individuals involved. "That's what we're trying to determine...we're in a pretty good spot and we're continuing to investigate."
Questioning Tactics
Dennis said that he had often had teenagers tell him of similar encounters that they had had in the past, and that he "wish he had fought harder."
"I had to tell my Night Vision guys, 'I should have fought harder," said Dennis. "This is the last straw. My hope is they're considering disbanding the task force -- no one's like "they're doing great.' I was told by everyone -- top down - that they 'didn't know who these guys were,' like they had no control over a rogue police arm."
"My last interaction with the [task force] was at gun point two years ago, I let that go, they're just doing their job in broad daylight, but the other one I didn't let go because I was with my mom. Here I was working with police, and I was jumped," said Dennis.
"This one I'm not letting go, if I have to sue, I'll sue," said Dennis. "Right now, we're going through the process. There needs to be accountability. I know they've got to look for guns on the street, but they need to treat people with respect and dignity."
Related Slideshow: Top RI Fatal Police Incidents - See the Cases
The below slides list all 18 deadly incidents involving a police officer in Rhode Island between 2000 and 2013. Details and incident descriptions were collected from a national watchdog database of such incidents, FatalEncounters.org. For a number of incidents, official decisions regarding the justifiability of the officer’s actions were not available from the database.
Note that all known police killings, including those that were officially declared justifiable, are listed. So far, no recent incidents in Rhode Island have been deemed as unjustifiable or inexcusable, according to the database.
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Jamie Coyle
Age: 35 Male
Race: European
Incident Date: May 2nd 2013
Location: Pawtucket
Agency Responsible: Pawtucket Police Department
Cause of Death: Gunshot
Description: Coyle was shot by two police officers who say they feared for their lives when Coyle got out of his car and pulled a gun on them.
Official Dispositon: Unknown
Symptoms of Mental Illness: Unkown
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Craig J. Raposa
Age: 25 Male
Race: European
Incident Date: February 2nd, 2012
Location: Portsmouth
Agency Responsible: Portsmouth Police Department
Caue of Death: Asphyxiated
Description: Police were called to Raposa's mother's residence where he became resistant and uncooperative. He'd had a history of mental illness. Although not arrested or accused of any crime, Raposa was restrained, cuffed and placed face-down on the parking lot asphalt for an extended period. He died of cardiac asphyxia.
Official Dispositon: Justified
Symptoms of Mental Illness: Yes
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John D. Martins
Age: 47, Male
Race: Uknown
Incident Date: April 18, 2006
Location: Pawtucket
Agency Responsible: Pawtucket Police Department
Cause of death: Gunshot
Description: Ex-con Martins had just robbed a Cumberland Farms store, and was having trouble starting his getaway car, when a police cruiser moved in nose-to-nose to his vehicle and trapped it. Martins rammed the cruiser at least twice; the officer in it shot him once through the torso. Martins managed to move his car a short distance before dying.
Official Dispositon: Justified
Symptoms of Mental Illness: No
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Eddy Tiburcio
Age: 41, Male
Race: Unknown
Incident Date: July 28, 2008
Location: Providence
Agency Responsible: Providence Police Department
Cause of death: Gunshot
Description: Police responding to domestic disturbance calls from Tiburcio's residence found his wife wounded and his three young boys distressed as they answered the door. Officers proceeded to the bedroom to find Tiburcio armed with a bayonet and threatening his wife with further injury. He raised the bayonet to threaten the officer, who killed hm with a single shot.
Official Dispositon: Justified
Symptoms of Mental Illness: No
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Timothy Picard
Age: 41, Male
Race: Unknown
Incident Date: August 20, 2006
Location: Woonsocket
Agency Responsible: Woonsocket Police Department
Cause of Death: Taser
Description: Picard had struggled with his 19-year-old son, struggled with police trying to apprehend him, and struggled at police headquarters when behind booked. He was given two shocks with a stun gun. Shortly afterward he collapsed and didn't recover. He died within an hour.
Official Dispositon: Cleared of Wrongdoing
Symptoms of Mental Illness: No
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Mark Kilcline
Age: 19, Male
Race: European
Incident Date: February 8, 2009
Location: North Kingstown
Agency Responsible: North Kingstown Police Department
Cause of Death: Gunshot
Description:The mother of one of Kilcline's friends called police to have them check on his welfare over worries about his emotional health. In the resulting confrontation, Kilcline charged three officers with an 8-inch steak knife; they shot him a total of nine times and left him critically injured, one-eyed, and permanently paralyzed. He died of his injuries in April 2013. His family filed a lawsuit for excessive force, gross negligence and brutality, collecting $7M from the city.
Official Dispositon: Justified
Symptoms of Mental Ilness: Yes
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Jason Swift
Age: 30, Male
Race: Unknown
Incident Date: February 12, 2008
Location: Pawtucket
Agency Responsible: Pawtucket Police Department
Cause of Death: Gunshot
Description: Swift's mother called 911 for assistance in bringing her agitated, delusional and physical imposing (6'4" and over 300 lbs) son to the hospital. Two officers reached the scene and Swift emerged with a sheathed sword. Ordered to drop the sword, Swift did so, and demonstrated he had no other weapons. The altercation moved inside and another officer arrived and joined in. The end result was Swift, naked, unarmed, and dead from two bullet wounds physically impossible according to the police account. His family settled a suit with the city for $1.3M.
Official Dispositon: Unreported
Symptoms of Mental Illness: Yes
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Jason Audette
Age: 34, Male
Race: Unknown
Incident Date: July 27, 2007
Location: Pawtucket
Agency Responsible: Pawtucket Police Department
Cause of Death: Gunshot
Description: Audette, newly released from a correctional institution and with a significant criminal record, was discovered in a driveway by police responding to a burglary in progress. Audette displayed a handgun and was shot to death by officers. This incident was one day after the same department's killing of suspect Bridget DeCrafft.
Official Dispositon: Unreported
Symptoms of Mental Illness: No
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Bridget DeGraftt
Age: 49, female
Race: Unknown
Incident Date: July 26, 2007
Location: Warwick
Agency Responsible: Pawtucket Police Department
Cause of Death: Gunshot
Description: DeGrafft carjacked an SUV from two teenagers at knifepoint at 1 a.m. and led state and local police on a chase through Attleboro, Cranston, and Warwick. Officers fired on her repeatedly. At the end three police cruisers boxed her in, she allegedly rocked the SUV back and forth to deliberately injure one of the officers, and she was shot to death. This incident was one day before the same department's killing of another suspect.
Official Dispositon: Justified
Symptoms of Mental Illness: No
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Selvin M. Garrido Morales
Age: 27, Male
Race: Unknown
Incident Date: April 8, 2007
Location: Central Falls
Agency Responsible: Central Falls Police Department
Cause of Death: Gunshot
Description: Two officers responded to a 911 call for help. On entering the apartment of Garrido Morales, they found him holding a knife over his own head. He refused to obey commands to drop the knife. Fearing for their own safety, officers shot him to death.
Official Dispositon: Unreported
Symptoms of Mental Illness: No
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James Wilcox
Age: 34, Male
Race: Unknown
Incident Date: July 2nd, 2006
Location: North Smithfield
Agency Responsible: North Smithfield Police Department
Cause of Death: Gunshot
Description: A Super Stop & Shop market called police to report a shoplifter who'd made off with a quantity of baby formula. Police arrived to find Wilcox, in his minivan with his five-year-old daughter and another man. Wilcox attempted to flee and reportedly struck the officer with his vehicle. The officer shot Wilcox, fatally, once in the stomach.
Official Dispositon: Unreported
Symptoms of Mental Illness: No
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Timothy Gileau
Age: 24, Male
Race: Unknown
Incident Date: April 1, 2006
Location: Coventry
Agency Responsible: Coventry Police Department
Cause of Death: Gunshot
Description: Coventry police were called to a domestic disturbance involving Gileau. Gileau produced a crowbar, threatened officers and lunged at them with the weapon. They shot him to death. A grand jury declined to indict the shooter.
Official Dispositon: Unreported
Symptoms of Mental Illness: No
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Patrick A. Duffy
Age: 37, male
Race: European
Incident Date: September 27, 2005
Location: Providence
Agency Responsible: providence Police Department
Cause of Death: Gunshot
Description: Duffy is said to have threatened a man with a knife, stolen a purse from a student at a pizza restaurant, then was pursued on foot by a patrolman into a dead-end street. Duffy refused to obey police commands, threatened the officer with the knife, and was fatally shot once in the chest.
Official Dispositon: Unreported
Symptoms of Mental Illness: No
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Jason Arcaro
Age: 26, male
Race: Unknown
Incident Date: April 4, 2004
Location: Woonsocket
Agency Responsible: Woonsocket Police Department
Cause of Death: Gunshot
Description: Several officers converged on Nello's Motor Sales to investigate an account that a vehicle had been tampered with. Arcano began shouting that he had a weapon, and while in the service garage he kept one hand concealed behind his back. On disobeying commands to show his hand, he was killed with one shot. Police found only a screwdriver in his back pocket.
Official Dispositon: Justified
Symptoms of Mental Illness: No
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Alister McGregor
Age: 43, Male
Race: European
Incident Date: December 27, 2001
Location: Providence
Agency Responsible: East Providence Police Department
Cause of Death: Gunshot
Description: McGregor was a Providence police captain teaching SWAT techniques when he was accidentally shot to death by a fellow officer. That officer was charged with involuntary manslaughter and given a deferred five-year sentence, which does not appear on a criminal history.
Official Dispositon: Excusable
Symptoms of Mental Illness: No
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Alfred Torres
Age: 23, Male
Race: Hispanic/Latino
Incident Date: July 26, 2001
Location: Providence
Agency Responsible: RI State Police
Cause of Death: Gunshot
Description: Police attention was drawn to an unregistered Buick with four people in it because of minor traffic violations. Torres was a passenger and one of four people in the car. Before the traffic stop police saw a pistol thrown out of the car -- they later recovered a .22 -- and during the stop Torres made movements the police found suspicious and threatening. He was shot once in the head.
Official Dispositon: Justified
Symptoms of Mental Illness: No
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Douglas Cooper
Age: 18, Male
Race: African-American
Incident Date: March 22, 2014
Location: Providence
Agency Responsible: Providence Police Department
Cause of Death: Gunshot
Description: Police happened across two rival street groups in an active firefight, Cooper among them. Three local plainclothes officers engaged both groups when they were fired on. Cooper was the only shooting victim.
Official Dispositon: Unreported
Symptoms of Mental Illness: No
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Cornel Young Jr.
Age: 29, Male
Race: African-American
Incident Date: January 28, 2000
Location: Providence
Agency Responsible: Providence Police Department
Cause of Death: Gunshot
Description: Young was an off-duty, out-of-uniform black officer at a 24-hour restaurant when a conflict broke out in the parking lot. Two white uniformed officers already on the scene immediately responded. Young produced his own handgun and positioned himself to assist. Stories differ about if, and how well, he identified himself. The other officers told him to drop his weapon, Young did not, and he was shot to death.
Official Dispositon: Cleared of criminal wrongdoing
Symptoms of Mental Illness: No
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