Providence commissioner says police did not racially profile Black firefighter, but more training is needed
"He happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
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Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré said Tuesday a Black city firefighter was not racially profiled when two police officers drew their guns on him while he sat in a car as they investigated an alleged robbery on Cranston Street earlier this month.
However, Paré said the department plans to discipline one officer because he did not turn on his body camera during the incident. He added that the officer used questionable judgment when deciding to search the vehicle for a weapon, even after it was apparent the firefighter and his female friend were not the two Latino men authorities were searching for.
Paré called the June 3 encounter an “unfortunate interaction.”
“(I) understand that the officers had a legal right to search, had probable cause, but better discretion could have been used, and, as a result, it caused this incident with a Black firefighter feeling that he was treated differently because of his race,” he said during a video press conference.
Paré also made clear that the firefighter, 23-year-old Terrell Paci, did nothing wrong.
“He happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said.
https://www.facebook.com/WPRI12/videos/955054528298333/
The probe launched after Paci described the incident in an emotional interview on WPRI-TV two days later during a protest rally.
Paci, who said he was on duty and in uniform at the time, was sitting in a red sedan outside his station, talking to a friend who was dropping off food, when they were approached by police with their guns drawn.
“I was like, ‘I’m a firefighter, I’m PFD, I’m one of you — don’t shoot,’ and they still kept approaching the vehicle with guns drawn,” Paci said as he fought back tears.
Democratic Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza vowed that the incident would be investigated. The Providence Firefighters Union rallied in support behind Paci, as Paci’s statements came under fire by the Providence Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3, which maintained officers followed protocol.
The encounter and Paci’s account also spurred Allie’s Donuts in North Kingston to end its discount to police and military members, igniting local controversy.
In summarizing the incident Tuesday, Paré, who provided audio recordings of related dispatch calls and body camera footage of the incident, said authorities received a call around 11:15 p.m. reporting that a building on Cranston Street had been broken into or damaged.
Officers at the scene found no one around the property, which did not appear damaged, he said.
Soon after, a man approached police on Cranston Street and told officers two Latino men wearing masks came up to him and another individual in a red car and demanded money, according to Paré. One displayed a gun, and the other held a knife, the man said.
The two victims fled without giving the two men any cash, Paré said. The man who reported the incident to police pointed out to officers a red sedan parked outside the fire house on Messer Street as the one that may have approached them, Paré said.
The other victim had called 911, describing the red car involved in the incident, he said.
Patrolman Matthew Sandorse, who is white, and Nathaniel Colicci, who is Black, approached the parked car with their guns drawn — a moment captured on a camera worn by Colicci, according to Paré.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=f_Op17qpMM0&feature=emb_title
On video, Sandorse can be heard telling the woman inside the car, sitting in the driver’s seat, to open her door and exit the vehicle. Paci begins to do the same before Colicci orders him to stay in the vehicle.
Paci, who was holding his department-issued radio, displays his Providence Fire Department cap. The officers then holster their guns.
Sandorse begins explaining the situation, including how police were drawn to the car.
“Who are you listening to?” Paci says.
Sandorse can be heard apologizing to Paci before Colicci shuts off his body camera.
According to Paré, Sandorse never turned his camera on.
Colicci then left the scene while Sandorse remained behind and searched the car for a weapon — a search the woman consented to, Paré said.
A police sergeant later went to the fire house to explain the circumstances of the situation to Paci after he reported the incident, according to Paré.
Paré said he believes Sandorse could have exhibited “better judgment” when deciding to search the vehicle, but concluded the incident was not a case of racial profiling, saying the officers did not know who was in the car when they approached it.
Sandorse will be disciplined — although the department has not yet determined how — for not having his body camera on, but he will not be punished for his decision to probe the car for a weapon, Paré said.
“Police officers use discretion all the time so there was nothing illegal or inappropriate for asking (to search the car),” he said. “But I think it was a bit insensitive, and it could have been handled better.”
Paré also acknowledged the experience of having a gun drawn on an individual is traumatic and that he “can understand the firefighter’s perception and his belief that he was selected and treated because of his race,” he said.
“We understand what we’re in here across this country and in this city as well, and we need to do more sensitivity training and cultural awareness training,” Paré said. “We need to continue that across the department, and that’s what we’ll be doing.”
According to Paré, police are continuing to search for the vehicle involved in the alleged robbery and any suspects involved have not been arrested.
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