Report Calls for Police Reforms in Pawtucket; Grebien Claims “Factual Inaccuracies”

Report Calls for Police Reforms in Pawtucket; Grebien Claims “Factual Inaccuracies”

A report released by a group called “Community United 4 Positive Change” is demanding significant changes to policing in the City of Pawtucket.

Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien — despite being listed as a collaborator on the report — claims, however, it contains “factual inaccuracies.”

The fourteen-page report calls for a ban on police chokeholds, a “demilitarization of police” and removal of police riot and military gear, and a request for police officers to wear name badges to identify themselves.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

In addition, the report calls for no police immunity in “unjust shootings," and demands the replacement of local prosecutors with federal prosecutors in all police misconduct cases.  

The report also addresses “specific cases requiring action,” including the release of five years of Internal Affairs reports. 

Read Full Report HERE

“Communities United for Positive Change (CU4PC) is a group of Pawtucket residents and community leaders who came together in Spring 2020, after the George Floyd murder in an effort to address city-wide concerns about accountability, transparency, racism and abuse of power within the Pawtucket Police Department,” said the group in releasing the report. 

“We are a group of diverse individuals who have agreed to work together despite not all holding the same exact opinions about everything, however we are united in our desire for justice and trust that with collaboration and transparency we can build a positive path forward that serves the community at large,” said Joao Goncalves, Chairman of the Board of Capeverdean American Community Development, which is located in Pawtucket stated.  

Grebien's spokeperson Wil Arboleda said that the Mayor refuted some of the information contained in the report -- but would not specify what the Mayor contested.

“This report reflects some of the accomplishments we achieved together, though it also has some factual inaccuracies in the report that will be discussed and addressed in the future,” said Arboleda. 

Meetings With City - Disagreement Over Report 

CU4PC members said it met with community leaders, Grebien and the Chief of Police/Public Safety Director Tina Goncalves to address a “spectrum past and ongoing concerns about the relationship between Pawtucket Police and the local community” in which they said they “endured long silences, miscommunication, and logistical challenges.”

“Though there was some helpful dialogue and clarification that came from this process, unfortunately, several of [our] demands remain unresolved,” said the group. 

“We took the community concerns and safety of all into consideration to avoid protests and rallies in our city. We decided to talk to the city instead in hopes to use peaceful strategy to build relationships and have the city commit to true community policing. We need to be unified now more than ever for the sake of our community and police officers,"said Khrystyne Bento of the Unity Project and RI Accountability Project.

In response to the report, Grebien spokesperson Aborleda said the city is “focused on working to build an even closer community.” 

“Collectively, the Mayor, Chief of Police and City Council have taken some immediate steps to ensure our community our level of commitment,” said Arboleda.

“The City was able to make some immediate changes, such as aligning with the RI Police Chiefs Association Twenty for 2020 and ensuring that CACD had the informational pamphlets that had been provided for residents to file complaints to show its willingness to recognize and change,” said Arboleda. “The City was also able to correct many of the misunderstandings that exist within the community, such as APRA requests and the use of reliable interpreters in cases of an investigation. At the same time, the City was dealing with the global pandemic which raised the needs to be addressed in our community as well.”

When asked to clarify what the inaccuracies are, Grebien's office refused to elaborate. 

“The City is hoping to continue a positive relationship with the group, and has shared with them the matrix of what we believe to be the takeaways from our multiple meetings,” Arboleda said. “We are not looking to go back and forth.”

The group says it plans to push forward with its demands. 

“The Mayor’s Community Board (MCB) was created in October of last year via an Executive Order, as a result of the meetings with CU4PC.  By this date, CU4PC was hoping to be working with the MCB  and constituent liaison; however, those relationships have yet to be fully established,” said the group. “CU4PC members Goncalves and Eric Lopez have been appointed in March by Mayor Grebien to join the MCB.  They plan to work with the Board to resolve all the issues stated in the report.”