The Senate is voting on reforms to law enforcement rights. Skeptics say it doesn't go far enough.

PROVIDENCE − In the days leading up to the Senate's approval Thursday − for the second year in a row − of Senate President Dominick Ruggerio's bill on the handling of police misconduct allegations skeptics asked the same question they asked last year and the year before.

The vote was unanimous. But does this proposed rewrite of R.I.'s "Law Enforcement Bill of Rights" go far enough?

Speaking at a hearing earlier this week, Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island chapter of the ACLU, said there is much to commend in the Senate bill − including the proposed removal of the current "gag rule" on public comment by police chiefs when misconduct allegations surface.

But he said police would still hold the majority of seats on the expanded new five-member panels evaluating complaints against police. In the few states that also have LEOBORs, he said: "Rhode Island's is considered one of the most protective of police officers accused of misconduct."

Harrison Tuttle, the president of the Black Lives Matter RI PAC, said the legislation may rejigger the composition of the misconduct hearing panels − and let police chiefs speak more freely about pending cases − but it does not address core issues, among them: the "feeling of hopelessness" among victims.

He cited the "delayed termination" of the off-duty Pawtucket police officer, Daniel Dolan, who shot an unarmed teenager outside a pizzeria in 2021 − and ultimately left the force with $123,934 in back pay. The case became the local poster child for the LEOBOR reform effort at the State House last year.

During an emotional hours-long hearing at the State House last April, the mother of the injured 18-year-old, Dominic Vincent, pleaded with the lawmakers to "tell my son he matters – tell my son his life matters."

"BLM RI PAC strongly believes that ... police chiefs should have the authority to terminate officers when concerns about public safety arise," Tuttle argued Tuesday. "The inability to promptly fire an officer, as in the case of Officer Dolan, should be a matter of concern for all."

And "it's not just a Rhode Island issue, it's a nationwide issue ... we continue to see police brutality," he said.

"Until we actually sit down and address why police officers at a disproportionate rate are continuing to arrest and sometimes hurt low-income, Black and brown individuals...it really doesn't matter how we shake out LEOBOR because at the end of the day, the community is never going to buy in."

Bella Robinson, executive director of the sex workers' advocacy group, Coyote RI − aka "Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics" − said the LEOBOR hearing panels as currently constituted have "undermined public trust."

But she had questions about the proposed House and Senate rewrites and, specifically, how they distinguish between "minor violations of departmental rules," sexual harassment and "officers who engage in sexual conduct during prostitution investigations?"

The senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee asked no follow-up questions of Brown, Tuttle, Robinson or the lobbyists for the police who spelled out in detail what they liked about the Senate bill − and what still worried them.

For example: the House and Senate bills would both expand the misconduct hearing panels from three to five, with police officers holding three of the five seats. They would both reserve a fourth seat for a retired judge.

Among the differences: the Senate version would reserve a seat for the executive director of the non-profit Nonviolence Institute, while the House version would reserve that seat for a lawyer chosen by the chief justice of the Supreme Court "in consultation with the court’s Committee on Racial and Ethnic Fairness and the Bar Association’s Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion."

John Rossi, speaking on behalf of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers and the National Association of Government Employees, suggested another alternative to "codifying a nonprofit organization" into the law.

He suggested the appointment of a Department of Administration hearing officer, because they tend to be trained legal professionals in human resources procedure and labor law. More importantly they have no ties or professional interaction with law enforcement."

On Thursday, Rep. Jose Batista announced plans to reintroduce his own LEOBOR bill. He explained it this way: "Rather than allow the LEOBOR panel to interrupt, distract and delay the implementation of the chief’s recommended punishment, the panel would still be available to the accused police officer, but as an appeal board while the chief’s recommendation takes effect immediately."

Batista introduced identical legislation last year.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Reform for RI's Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights falls short, critics say