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Human Rights Watch chose to investigate Providence, Rhode Island and the surrounding area because the police have received an unusually large number of complaints per capita, according to a nationwide report published by the Justice Department in 1991.1 The report cited three Rhode Island police departments as second only to New Orleans in the number of excessive force complaints. The relatively small communities - Providence, East Providence, and Pawtucket - each had complaint rates at least ten times as high as nearby Boston's.2 Only six state police agencies were included on the Justice Department list, and Rhode Island's ranked highest for complaints, with a rate of complaints four to twenty-five times higher than any other state agency.3

1 Criminal Section, Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice, "Police Brutality Study: FY 1985 - FY 1990," April 1991. Even though the report's methodology was questionable, and it lacked information necessary to reach any meaningful conclusions, it did indicate that the area may require additional scrutiny.

2 The Pawtucket police department, with 144 officers, received more than twice as many complaints per capita as any state, county, or municipal law enforcement agency in eleven states.

3 Ibid.