ACLU Blasts Motel 6 Agreement To Share Guest List With Warwick PD
GoLocalProv News Team
ACLU Blasts Motel 6 Agreement To Share Guest List With Warwick PD
ACLU of Rhode Island executive director Steven Brown released the following statement on Wednesday morning:
“When visitors go to a hotel for the night, they expect to be treated like guests, not potential criminals. Yet the blanket agreement between the Warwick police and the motel – sharing the guest list of all of its patrons on a daily basis – is hardly the sort of ‘hospitality’ one anticipates from such an establishment. A family on vacation should not be fearful that police may come knocking on the door in the middle of the night, courtesy of the motel, because Dad has an outstanding parking ticket he never paid.
“There are many ways to deal with illegal activities at the motel without engaging in such a wholesale invasion of patrons’ privacy. In the absence of some suspicion of wrongdoing, a person on vacation should not expect their private information to be shared with the government in this way. We are also deeply concerned about the precedent this agreement sets, for it can only embolden police to press for similar policies from other establishments.
“The ACLU urges that this sharing policy be immediately rescinded. At the very least, the motel should fess up to its customers as to exactly what it is doing so they can make an informed choice as to whether this is the hospitality they were looking for. When Motel 6 says in its ads that they’ll ‘leave the light on for you,’ most people probably don’t realize they’re talking about the light of a police siren.”
Police Militarization - Department by Department Breakdown
Woonsocket
Items Purchased: 3
Summary of Equipment: Dump truck (1 unit), Snow plow plade (1 unit), Truck and tractor attachments (1 unit)
West Warwick
Items Purchased: 5
Summary of Equipment: Shotgun barrel (1 unit), Immersion suit (1 unit, can be used for underwater operations)
East Providence
Items Purchased: 10
Summary of Equipment: Radio sets (4 units), Miscellaneous vehicle parts (6 total units)
Scituate
Items Purchased: 12
Summary of Equipment: M84 charging handle (8 units, is part of a rifle)
Smithfield
Items Purchased: 15
Summary of Equipment: Small arms sling swivel (10 units), Optical reflex units (5 units)
Newport
Items Purchased: 17
Summary of Equipment: Digital computer systems (3 units), Flat panel monitors (10 units)
Barrington
Items Purchased: 43
Summary of Equipment: Binoculars (5 units), Ballistic protective spectacles (25 units), Sight mount (5 units)
Photo credit: Stanislas PERRIN
Cranston
Items Purchased: 49
Summary of Equipment: Armor Plate (1 unit), Survival vest pocksts (30 units)
Glocester
Items Purchased: 70
Summary of Equipment: High capacity rifle magazines (12 units), Ammunition-carrying vests (4 units), Ballistic protective spectacles (20 units)
North Kingstown
Items Purchased: 72
Summary of Equipment: High capacity rifle magazines (27 units), Small arms storage rack (5 units), Satellite systems navigation set (4 units)
East Greenwich
Items Purchased: 99
Summary of Equipment: Binoculars (10 units), Ballistic and laser protective spectacles (53 units), Ballistic protective spectables (30 unites)
Hopkinton
Items Purchased: 100
Summary of Equipment: High capacity rifle magazines (100 units)
Foster
Items Purchased: 257
Summary of Equipment: Ballistic and laser protective spectacles (6 units), Rifle bipods (10 units), Field pack (10 units, designed for clothing rations, and additional items like ammunition), Passenger motor vehicles (3 units)
Coventry
Items Purchased: 1,604
Summary of Equipment: HMMWV (Humvee) M1165 Assembly Kit (2 units), Gun magazines (432 units), Night vision face masks (8 units), Gun silencers (54), Small arms sight mounts (6 units)
Johnston
Items Purchased: 2,389
Summary of Equipment: Armor plates (30 units), Demolition firing device (1 unit), Improvised Explosive Device training it (9 units), High capacity rifle magazines (599 units), Chemical protective suit (1 unit), High-speed tractor (1 unit), Diesel generators (2 units), Flat panel monitors (21 units)
