Two separate incidents resulting in the arrest of black University students in the early morning hours of Sept. 10 have focused attention on the actions of the Department of Public Safety and the Providence Police Department, resulting in investigations by both departments and the creation of the Coalition for Police Accountability and Institutional Transparency.
Most of the attention has focused on an incident involving Chipalo Street GS, who was arrested on campus after refusing to show identification to DPS officers. At a meeting in Harambee House the day after the incident, Street said officers had assaulted him.
Because Street alleged misconduct by DPS officers, University officials launched an investigation into the incident, the findings of which were announced in an Oct. 16 campus-wide e-mail. The investigation found that DPS officers were justified in their actions and did not cause injury to Street. The conduct of the PPD officers who actually arrested Street was outside the scope of the University's investigation, and the PPD "will undertake a full investigation ... once a formal complaint is filed," according to the e-mail.
Less information has emerged about the second incident, which occurred downtown and involved only PPD officers. University officials reported basic details about the incident in two campus-wide e-mails.
President Ruth Simmons and Interim Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Russell Carey '91 MA'06 wrote in a Sept. 12 message, while "responding to an incident downtown, Providence Police officers directed a Brown University student who was driving his vehicle along the route to move aside so that the Providence Police vehicles could pass."
The e-mail continued, "When the student allegedly did not immediately move his vehicle, the situation escalated to the point where officers used force in effecting his arrest. The student has alleged police misconduct in this incident."
An Oct. 4 e-mail from Carey and Vice President for Administration Walter Hunter repeated the basic details from the Sept. 12 message and added, "The student has filed a formal complaint against the Providence Police Department officers involved. Accordingly, PPD is conducting a full investigation into the incident."
PPD officials have declined to comment, stating that investigations into officers' conduct are internal. The student involved in the incident declined to comment.
The PPD police report filed by the officers involved in the incident provides their narrative of what happened. The Herald obtained a copy of the police report Wednesday, after several unsuccessful attempts over the last several weeks.
According to the report, police were dispatched to respond to a report of a man with a gun at Saki's Pizza on Weybosset Street in downtown Providence at approximately 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 10. While driving to that location, police encountered a car stopped in a travel lane on Mathewson Street facing the oncoming police vehicles.
The report states that the police, traveling in marked cars with lights and sirens operating, "activated the Police vehicles' horn in order to get the blocking vehicle to back up." A PPD officer then exited his vehicle and approached the driver's side of the blocking car to instruct the driver to "back up the vehicle in order to get the Police vehicles past," according to the report. When police ordered the driver, who "stated that he was a Brown University student," to exit his car, the student responded, "No," the report states.
According to the report, "Police then opened the drivers side door of (the) vehicle and grabbed the left arm" of the student, who "then reached over towards Police with his right arm and punched Police in the arm causing Police to let go. Police then grabbed onto the shirt of (the student) and began pulling him from his vehicle. At this time (the student) pushed Police in the chest and sat back into the drivers seat of his vehicle."
The report states the student then "attempted to flee while driving (his car) forward causing the drivers side of this vehicle to come into collision with the front bumper of the marked Police vehicle."
The report states, "While (the student) was attempting to flee the scene," two other PPD officers had approached the passenger side of the student's car and became "pinned" between the car and another car parked on the side of the street. In "an attempt to get (the student) to stop his vehicle before striking these officers," the report states, one of the officers broke the two passenger side windows of the student's car with his "PPD issued ASP," while the other officer broke the rear window.
Meanwhile, police continued ordering the student to stop his vehicle, according to the report. The report states the student stopped the car after striking the police car, and he was then removed and apprehended by the PPD officers.
The student was arraigned Sept. 13 on three misdemeanor charges of assault, using force to resist arrest and acting in a disorderly manner, according to documents filed at Sixth District Court in Providence. He posted $1,000 bail.
Pre-trial conferences for both Street, who was arrested on campus, and the student involved in the incident downtown are scheduled for Nov. 1.
