Civil Rights

Civilian oversight board welcomes City’s effort to host critical dialogue on policing

“PERA has sent the Mayor and City Council a formal letter this week recommending the city reallocate funding from the Providence Police Department and reinvest the funds into PERA, in order to transition to a new, civilian lead model of oversight.“ The Providence External Review Authority (PERA) board joins the global community in condemning recent and tragic events in Minneapolis

Rhode Island News: Civilian oversight board welcomes City’s effort to host critical dialogue on policing

June 12, 2020, 11:33 am

By Uprise RI Staff

“PERA has sent the Mayor and City Council a formal letter this week recommending the city reallocate funding from the Providence Police Department and reinvest the funds into PERA, in order to transition to a new, civilian lead model of oversight.


The Providence External Review Authority (PERA) board joins the global community in condemning recent and tragic events in Minneapolis and the similar cases past and present. 

As our city’s civilian police-oversight board, we embrace our unique responsibility to contribute toward the public discourse and problem solving that is taking place in Providence at this time. 

More broadly, PERA enthusiastically welcomes the City’s efforts to host the dialogue that our city is so eager to have in 2020. 

Several PERA board members and personnel were in attendance for Wednesday night’s Providence City Council Finance Committee hearing on the same topic and were unanimously encouraged to see the various stakeholders in our city engage in the difficult and critical dialogue that took place. 

In contributing to this dialgoue, PERA has sent the Mayor and City Council a formal letter this week recommending the city reallocate funding from the Providence Police Department and reinvest the funds into PERA, in order to transition to a new, civilian lead model of oversight. 

We do not make this recommendation lightly but only after deep reflection on recent events and the subsequent demonstrations around the world. The transition we are recommending will take time and will require sustained cooperation between PERA and the police department. 

Lastly, the PERA board meets on every third Wednesday night of the month. Accordingly, we will host our next monthly board meeting (via zoom) on Wednesday June 17, 2020 at 5pm. 

During this meeting we will have three main agenda items:

  • a presentation of our most recent bi-annual report;
  • an opportunity for public comment and recommendation to the PERA board; and,
  • an executive session for the board to discuss confidential matters. 

In order to help facilitate and welcome dialogue with the public, PERA has created an official twitter account and can be followed, mentioned and messaged @PERAProvidence

The PERA bylaws, internal policies, complaint form, contact information and previous bi-annual reports are publicly available for viewing at our website www.providenceri.gov/PERA.

[From a press release]