The Providence Police Department violated several city ordinances and departmental policies during a July incident involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the Providence External Review Authority determined last month.
PERA, a civilian oversight body appointed by the City Council and mayor that investigates allegations of police misconduct, found that officers violated the Providence Community-Police Relations Act and a PPD policy, both of which prohibit PPD officers from supporting or assisting in federal civil immigration enforcement efforts. PERA found that PPD also violated a policy mandating the use of body-worn cameras in nearly all interactions with the public.
The investigation centered on a July 13 incident where PPD officers responded to reports of a vehicle collision caused by an ICE agent in pursuit of Ivan Mendoza Meza. According to ICE, Mendoza Meza is an alleged fentanyl trafficker and MS-13 gang member who immigrated illegally from Honduras.
PERA’s report, which was sent to the Providence City Council on Aug. 21, states that officers violated the city ordinance and PPD policies by establishing a perimeter at the request of ICE agents and relaying information about Mendoza Meza’s location and clothing to ICE agents. Officers also committed violations by negotiating Mendoza Meza’s surrender to ICE and failing to maintain continuous body camera recording during critical phases of the incident, PERA’s report alleges.
Several evidentiary exhibits are attached to the report, including interdepartmental reports by two officers involved in the incident and two body camera footage summaries.
Body camera footage captured Sergeant Peter Salmons asking an ICE agent, “What do you need from us?” The footage also shows Salmons approaching the rear door of the house Mendoza Meza was in while Lieutenant William Brown conversed with ICE agents.
William Brown’s attached report stated his concern that a larger crowd control issue would arise without PPD intervention. “It was in the interests of the City to at least set up a little perimeter and try to minimize this from occurring,” he wrote.
PERA recommended the PPD establish clear guidelines and conduct department-wide training on responding to ICE and other federal agency requests for assistance. The report specified that department personnel “are not to render any services that directly or indirectly assist federal agencies in conducting civil immigration enforcement.”
The oversight body also recommended those who violated the PPD’s body-worn camera policy, including William Brown, Salmons and other officers, be disciplined.
PERA was created in 2002 and opened in 2005, The Herald previously reported. But the body only became fully operational in 2017 and lacks enforcement capabilities. Its mandate is to review PPD policies and allegations of misconduct and issue recommendations to relevant parties, but enforcement relies on other actors, including the PPD and the City Council.
In its 2024 annual review, PERA noted that, as of February, “there has not been a response from the police department or the administration acknowledging PERA’s policy recommendations nor explaining whether they have been implemented.”
Anthony Vega, press secretary for the city of Providence, wrote in an email to The Herald that the PPD “will be formally responding to PERA’s recommendations in an email.”
Prior to the report’s release, Oscar Perez Jr., PPD chief of police, told the Boston Globe that officers hadn’t violated the policy prohibiting cooperation with ICE, but that he was reviewing the alleged lack of body camera footage.
Since then, PPD has “identified non-compliance with body-worn camera activation parameters,” and four officers received verbal warnings, according to Vega.
The PPD is also developing a training bulletin to provide additional direction and to “reinforce consistent practices regarding interactions with federal agencies,” Vega wrote.
City Council President Rachel Miller (Ward 13) urged the PPD to take stronger action. “Chief Perez should accept PERA’s findings (and) immediately implement their recommendations,” Miller wrote in a statement to The Herald.
“This incident needs to be a learning moment that leads to a change of course for the department,” Miller continued. “We will make sure this is enforced, not ignored.”
The City Council is “currently researching and preparing improvements to city law,” wrote City Council Chief of Staff June Rose in an email to the Herald. “Strengthening enforcement when there are clear and independently verified violations of the policy is a key focus right now,” they wrote.
In January, several City Council members introduced an ordinance that would amend the Providence Community-Police Relations Act by adding a list of actions that PPD officers are prohibited from taking under the act, including sharing civilian personal data with federal agents.
The ordinance was referred to the Committee on Ordinances on Jan. 16 and has not been placed on a meeting agenda since.
Vega said the violations alleged by PERA fall outside the authority of the City Solicitor’s Office. The White House, ICE and PERA did not respond to requests for comment.
Lev Kotler-Berkowitz is a senior staff writer covering city and state politics. He is from the Boston area and is a junior concentrating in Political Science and Economics. In his free time, Lev can be found playing baseball or running around with his dog.
