On April 7, the Rhode Island Senate voted to pass a bill that would make attempting to disarm a peace officer a felony offense.
According to state law, the definition of “peace officer” includes groups such as federal law enforcement officers, state and local police and Brown and Rhode Island School of Design police officers, among others.
Currently, attempting to disarm a member of one of these groups is considered a misdemeanor.
State Sen. Louis DiPalma ScM’89 (D-Middletown, Little Compton, Newport, Tiverton), who is the lead sponsor of the legislation, wrote in an to The Herald that he submitted the bill at the request of Newport Police Chief Ryan Duffy.
Duffy said the idea for the bill was spurred by a September 2023 brawl at a Newport wedding, during which an individual allegedly attempted to pull a gun out of a police officer’s holster.
If the individual had succeeded, it “would have been a different day in Newport,” he added. “There would have been (a) high likelihood that shots would have been fired.”
According to the bill, disarming includes attempting to remove a firearm, weapon or communication device “from any peace officer or investigator of the Department of Attorney General.”
This bill “would not only better protect the officers who put their lives on the line each day to protect our communities, but also anyone present in such a situation,” DiPalma wrote.
Duffy described an incident in which a suspect took his radio from him while they wrestled behind a house, leaving him unable to call his team for backup.
“There are a number of other situations where an officer has been in an altercation (and) had tools removed from them,” he added.
The bill passed with a vote of 34-3. State Sen. Jonathon Acosta ’11 MA’16 MA’19 PhD’24.5 (D-Central Falls, Pawtucket), who voted against the bill, described it as an “overreaction to a highly publicized incident.”
“If you interfere in the course of law enforcement actions, you can already be arrested,” he said. “Just adding this felony charge is just another way to try to hold people more accountable than we hold law enforcement.”
Acosta and State Sen. Tiara Mack ’16 (D-Providence) — who also voted against the bill — said that it could target Black and brown people, who are often the victims of police brutality and unequal treatment from law enforcement.
Both senators cited the ongoing Rishod Gore case as an example of this issue, in which Providence Police Sergeant Joseph Hanley was accused of assaulting a handcuffed Black man six years ago.
Mack described the bill as “just another way” of “criminalizing Black and brown communities.”
During the public committee hearing process, nobody raised concerns that this bill would lead to the disproportionate racial targeting of communities, according to DiPalma. He added that he was “not surprised” that these concerns were not brought up, as he believes these acts are “a very rare offense overall.”
“But the fact that it is uncommon does not diminish the severity of the offense, and I believe our laws should reflect that severity,” he added.
The Senate bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee on April 8. A companion bill was also introduced in the House in February, but was postponed at the request of sponsor State Rep. Earl Read (D-Coventry, West Warwick, Warwick) on April 8.
Michelle Bi is a metro editor covering City Hall & Crime and State Politics & Justice. She is a sophomore from Oak Park, CA and studies English and IAPA. In her free time, you can find her playing guitar, the LA Times crossword or one of her 115 Spotify playlists.
