An internal investigation determined that there was no evidence of racial profiling in an incident involving two Rhode Island police officers and a firefighter earlier this month. One officer, however, will be disciplined because he did not turn on his body camera during the incident.
The findings, as well as video footage from the June 5 incident, were released by Public Safety Commission Steven Paré on Tuesday, WBZ-TV reports. The footage shows two Providence police officers approaching a car that Terrell Paci, a 23-year-old Providence firefighter, was a passenger in.
In the video, the officer have their guns drawn, and they order the driver and Paci out of the car. Paci then tells the officers that his a firefighter.
Paré said that the car Paci was in was stopped because police had received a report of an armed robbery in the area, according to WBZ. But the investigation did not find any evidence of racial profiling by the officers.
Although no racial profiling happened during the incident, Paré said they could have managed the stop better and used "better discretion," WBZ reports. One officer also will be disciplined because he did not have his body camera on during the incident as required by the department.
Paci said he feels the investigation vindicates his account of the incident. He added that many people said they didn't believe him, including the city's police union, which had accused Paci of seeking publicity.
“I heard a lot of support from our Commissioner, and he was saying that everything the video released was true,” Paci told WBZ.
Following the findings of the investigation, the police union defended the officers' actions during the incident as appropriate.
“While we understand how having a firearm pointed at you could be traumatizing to the Firefighter, the method in which this was conveyed and portrayed in the public against our Officers, and distorted and embellished … is what we take issue with,” the union said in a statement, according to WBZ.
Although Paci is asking for an apology from the officers, the firefighter said he would like to work with police to make sure similar incidents don't happen again.
“I think the first step is going to be trying to heal myself, and then once I start healing myself I want to start healing Providence and become united,” Paci told WBZ.
