'It didn't exist': How a RI reporter helped shed light on police misconduct cases

Ben Berke of Ocean State Media joined Eli Sherman and Dan McGowan on “Behind the Story” this week to discuss the role out of a police reform law that went into effect earlier this year.

Berke examined the Law Enforcement Officers Due Process Accountability and Transparency Act, or LEODPATA, and whether it's changed how officials handle cases of alleged police misconduct.

His reporting shows the law -- which replaced a previous version known as LEOBOR -- has struggled to deliver on some of the promises its champions touted when it passed last year.

"The experts I talked to said things like, 'this is a meaningful tweak,'" Berke said. "It's not going to really radically alter how police accountability is meted out in Rhode Island, but it might make the system more responsive than it was to really egregious cases."

His reporting also shed light on the fact that nobody was publicly posting new cases of alleged police misconduct, which is requirement under the new law.

"It didn't exist," Berke said, explaining it took him nearly two dozen emails and six weeks of work to track down the information that's supposed to be readily available to the public.

Following his report, the Post Officers Commission on Standards and Training, or POST, created a webpage with the cases currently going through LEODPATA hearings.

There are currently four cases underway, including two in South Kingstown and one in Tiverton and Westerly, respectively.

Later in the show, Dan and Eli talked about the “Stories We Wish We Wrote.” They include (not all mentioned on air):

Dan’s picks

• An Instagram poster pulled the mask off the Washington Bridge audit. Their identity remains hidden by Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current
• Top RI Realtor Threatens to Call ICE on Buyer, Then Offers $20,000 to Kill GoLocal Story by Josh Fenton, GoLocalProv

Eli’s picks

• A drone, golf balls and a gun: How shoreline access tensions erupted in Narragansett by Antonia Noori Farzan, The Providence Journal
• Offshore wind’s effects on fish won’t be studied due to federal cuts by Anastasia E. Lennon, The New Bedford Light

Watch “Behind the Story” Thursdays at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on the WPRI 12+ TV app.

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It airs on TV (Sundays at 8 a.m. on FOX Providence and 11 a.m. on The CW Providence), and will be available on demand through the WPRI 12+ app and right here on WPRI.com.

“Behind the Story” is hosted by Eli Sherman and Kim Kalunian of 12 News, along with Dan McGowan of the Boston Globe.