News & Commentary

By Hillary Davis, Policy Associate

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island is urging the Pawtucket Police Department to conduct an in-depth examination of some of its policies and procedures in light of “disturbing” allegations of racism among its officers described in a recent news article.

Over the past few months, we've shared quite a bit of data about the school-to-prison pipeline and its disproportionate impact on Rhode Island's communities of color. We recently sat down with Jordan Seaberry, of the Univocal Legislative Minority Advisory Committee and Jim Vincent, president of the NAACP-Providence Branch to discuss the far reaching impact of these racial disparities and how the state must act to improve the lives of all Rhode Islanders.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island has raised deep concerns about the hiring practices of the City of East Providence and the East Providence School Department’s failure to address allegations of discrimination against minority employees and applicants.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island today issued a report calling on state and municipal leaders to examine policies, practices and procedures that lead to discriminatory treatment of black Rhode Islanders, from elementary school through adulthood. The ACLU report, titled “The School-to-Prison Pipeline in Black and White,” offers a brief but systematic examination of racial disparities in Rhode Island, and how those interconnected disparities can lead to a lifetime of unequal treatment. The report, presented in a series of twelve charts, comes as the nation celebrates Black History Month, and grapples with recent events that have pushed racial disparity issues back into the forefront.

As part of an ongoing analysis of racial disparities in Rhode Island, the ACLU of Rhode Island today announced that racial disparities in searches during motor vehicle stops appear to be increasing.

The ACLU of Rhode Island has issued the following statement in response to recent events in Ferguson, Missouri: “Recent events in Ferguson, Missouri highlight the vast gap that often exists between the police and communities of color. Certain policing practices can unnecessarily antagonize communities by casting a blanket of suspicion over entire neighborhoods. These practices are responsible, at least in part, for the vast racial disparities we see in our criminal justice system. The discussion generated by Michael Brown's death must lead to constructive resolutions. In that regard, the ACLU of Rhode Island will continue to work to promote transparency and accountability in police conduct, to roll back the militarization of local police departments, and to end racial profiling in the state."

Many police departments across Rhode Island disproportionately arrest black individuals at rates that eclipse the racial disparity of arrests found in Ferguson, Missouri, newly reported data shows.