The ACLU of RI today issued the following statement regarding the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) review of the response to Brown University Shooting, and Brown considering participating in the Real Time Crime Center:
While it is laudable that Mayor Smiley and the Providence Police Department sought recommendations to better improve their response to horrific incidents such as the shooting at Brown University, those improvements should not include continued investments in the City’s surveillance infrastructure.
The newly released report recommends the City continue to use their 60 automated license plate readers, specifically within the guidelines of the department’s policy. We have consistently noted that, because Rhode Island has no statewide law regulating the use of these technologies in our communities, we are left to rely on police policies that can be changed overnight and without any public input. Our concern for the privacy rights of Rhode Islanders is not assuaged by the recommendation to continue using these systems simply under the assumption that the police department’s policy will not change tomorrow, next month, or next year.
We have seen a number of Rhode Island municipalities move away from using these cameras after having meaningful conversations with community members — from rejecting purchases of new cameras and cancelling contracts, to following Governor McKee’s recommendation to pause new installations. The report fails to address the extremely serious privacy concerns raised by the use of this surveillance technology and the troubling misuses that it engenders.
The PERF report also recommended that Brown University join the Real Time Crime Center (RTCC), Providence’s police surveillance technology hub. In a separate report today, Brown University expressed a willingness to participate in the RTCC by sharing security camera footage. In August 2025, the ACLU of RI sent Mayor Smiley a letter noting the serious privacy concerns associated with the use of the RTCC. Beyond the widely documented concerns with the consolidated surveillance measures housed within the RTCC, the letter noted that the system was implemented prior to the creation and adoption of privacy protections.
A few months later, the ACLU of RI also sent a letter to the colleges and universities in Providence, including Brown, urging them not to share their information with the RTCC because of this stark lack of protection. However, Brown indicated that it will “determine the appropriate conditions for joining the RTCC through an agreement with PPD.” We acknowledge Brown’s consideration of privacy regarding the surveillance data, but we remain resolute that expanding surveillance is not a solution. Meaningful statewide laws must be in place before systems like these are implemented to ensure that the privacy rights of all Rhode Island residents and visitors are protected.