Ordinance Committee Seeks Revisions for Community Safety Act

The Providence City Council Ordinance Committee voted against bringing the Community Safety Act to a full city council vote yesterday. The committee said that there are conflicts between the language of the proposed ordinance and state and federal law. The community-based STEP-UP coalition has been working on the CSA since 2014 to increase police accountability and help put an end to racial profiling by the Providence Police Department. Vanessa Flores-Maldonado, CSA campaign coordinator, said that the STEP-UP coalition will need to address the legal issues of the CSA before bringing it back to the committee.   Nicholas Freeman, manager of policy and research at Providence City Council, said that several outstanding issues exist in the CSA in its current form, according to Rhode Island Future. These issues include distinguishing which policies belong in the language of the ordinance and which belong in the Providence Police Department. The committee also took issue with the CSA’s proposed regulations around the gang database and the use of body cameras and other recording devices by police. Additionally, Freeman noted the strength of the language of the ordinance as an issue to be addressed in future revisions, in order for the ordinance to stand up in a court challenge. But beyond these issues, Flores-Maldonado said a problem with getting the ordinance to a vote has been having to work closely with the Providence Police Department. “You can’t work with a body or institution that you’re trying to reform and radicalize, because it’s not going to happen,” she said. “So instead of us trying to work with them, it’s going to have to be a matter of, this is the ordinance we passed, and you’re going to have to listen to the standards that we’re setting forward.” Flores-Maldonado said she is confident the CSA will be passed before inauguration day in 2017.