New team built from the ground up by the Attorney General will focus on civil-rights violations in Rhode Island
Tom Mooney, The Providence Journal
PROVIDENCE — In a divisive year that has seen more hate crimes — and racially charged incidents of excessive force by police sparking demonstrations nationwide — Rhode Island’s attorney general is giving renewed priority to civil-rights abuses.
Attorney General Peter F. Neronha has created a special four-member team of investigators to handle all civil-rights complaints that reach his office.
Previously such cases could have been handled by any of the office’s dozens of prosecutors, or often at the local community level by a city or town solicitor.