The public airing of an employment dispute between a former East Providence police officer and city officials played out at the Aug. 11 meeting of the East Providence Council — which the former claimed amounted to an attempt at “character assassination” against him.

Paul Rodrigues, an East Providence native, graduated from the Rhode Island police academy in 1992 (the same year, he said, as Mayor Bob DaSilva), and transferred to the East Providence Police Department from North Providence in 1994. In the years leading up to his retirement in 2015, he told the members of the city council that he received multiple commendations, including a special recognition for his work as a school resource officer in 2006, and two “off-duty life saving” commendations for performing CPR.

Rodrigues was appearing before the council because he was seeking answers about why he had not been approved to work details as a civilian police officer, which he applied for months ago but had still not received an answer as to why he has not been approved.

Rodrigues said he had on multiple occasions interacted in-person and via email with city officials, including the police chief and representatives from the mayor’s office, including Mayor DaSilva personally through text message attempts; and still could receive no answer about his employment status. He stated he had a right to know if there was something preventing him from returning to detail work, which he had worked in the past since his retirement, and had submitted all the required paperwork to do so.

“If there is an issue that requires my attention, I should be informed so I could address it,” he said. “Instead I have been met with silence, despite repeated attempts to obtain an answer.”

On July 10, 2026 Rodrigues said that he received an email from East Providence Director of Human Resources, Diego Jones.

“Upon review of your work history, incidents, and interactions with the police department and its officers and input from the chief of police, the city has decided not to continue with your application process or offer you opportunity for employment,” the email read, according to Rodrigues.

Rodrigues said that his work history included no objectionable behavior, and recounted that the last “incident” he could think of went back to 2022, when a juvenile briefly broke into his home during what was later determined in the meeting to have been a game of “ding-dong-ditch”.

Rodrigues specifically disputed the referenced “interactions with the police department and its officers”, saying he retired in 2015 and didn’t know officers on the force today.

“That’s 11 years ago, I don’t even know many, if any, of these police officers, so I don’t even know what 'interaction' means,” he said.

City makes its case

In response Matthew Paddock, communications director for the city, told the council that the decision to deny Rodrigues’s request to work a detail job came down to multiple concerns.

The first was related to an incident that occurred in 2015, when Rodrigues was hired to a job within the city’s Highway Department shortly after he retired from the police force. That resulted in a lawsuit filed against the city by the prospective employee who did not get the job — a Black man who court documents confirm was ranked as the top choice on the city’s eligibility list for the position that Rodrigues ultimately received instead.

The suit eventually ended in a settlement, with the complainant being awarded $150,000; of which $75,000 would be paid by the city, and the other $75,000 from the Interlocal Trust (the city’s insurance agency).

Paddock said the city was particularly sensitive to the types of issues that have led to costly lawsuits against the city.

“Prior to the City of East Providence moving to a mayoral form of government, the city continued to find itself embattled in negative light from past city leaders, including large settlements on the dime of the East Providence taxpayer,” he said.

Paddock added that the concerns over hiring Rodrigues didn’t just come from DaSilva, but from Chief of Police, Michael Rapoza, as well. The chief of police and mayor are jointly responsible for hiring detail officers in East Providence, per a new HR policy that began earlier this year.

Rapoza reportedly had concerns about how Rodrigues responded to the aforementioned incident with the juvenile trespassing on his property in 2022.

“Although Mr. Rodrigues was in a heightened emotional state because his door was 'kicked in', the concern of the police department comes from the comments that he made to officers on scene that night, and his judgment in the moments that followed,” Paddock said, although there was no official reporting of what specifically was said that could be obtained by press time. “It is important to note that this incident happened before our department had implemented body cameras, and those concerns come from officers still on the force today who responded that night.”

The third issue related to a incident that was caught on police body cam video, which was shown to the council in public session at the Aug. 11 meeting.

The incident on the video, which occurred on June 17, shows a Black man detained in handcuffs by East Providence Police, who were reportedly investigating a federal crime (unrelated to ICE, Paddock clarified). As the man, whose face has been redacted, is standing with police a truck drives by and comes to a stop, with the man inside (identified as Rodrigues) yelling out, “Stay out of East Providence. We don’t want you [f##kers] here.”

As it turned out, the man detained was not the person police were looking for, and he was let go shortly after the incident occurred.

In a memo to Mayor DaSilva regarding Rodrigues’s attempts to be hired as a detail officer, Chief Rapoza reported his concerns regarding that incident.

“The consistency of observations made by both responding officers and the reviewing supervisor reinforces that Mr. Rodrigues’s conduct was perceived as inappropriate by multiple members of the department and was inconsistent with the level of professionalism expected during an active law enforcement investigation,” Rapoza wrote. “While I appreciate Mr. Rodrigues’s years of dedicated service to the City of East Providence and recognize his contributions during his career, this most recent incident raises significant concerns regarding his judgment and professionalism. His decision to stop his vehicle, insert himself into an active police encounter, and make inappropriate remarks, is inconsistent with the expectations we place upon individuals who represent this department in any capacity.”

Paddock added in his testimony to the council that it was the administration’s stance “that all forms of racism and bigotry simply will not be tolerated.”

Rodrigues made a short response following Paddock’s presentation of the city’s case.

“I had a text message exchange with the chief, who told me 'It’s a new process, no one is blocking you.' That was false. I’m being blocked,” he said. “Now it’s almost not about the details, this is a character assassination as far as I’m concerned.”

'It was a joke'

In a video posted on Facebook by East Providence resident, politician, and candidate for Rhode Island Senate District 14, Brian Coogan, Rodrigues is interviewed shortly after leaving the council chambers. He directly addressed the issues brought up at the hearing, including the incident seen on the police body camera, which he said had nothing to do with racism.

“It was a joke,” Rodrigues tells Coogan. “Because it was a massive amount of cops and I recognized one of the cops and I yelled, ‘Stay out of East Providence. Ha ha ha.’ It was a joke. I didn’t care if the guy was black, pink, or purple. It was a joke. It doesn’t matter.”

Rodrigues added that he was allowed to work police details back in 2020 and 2021, after the settlement had come down regarding the DPW position that was brought up by Paddock.

“Why is that an issue now?” Rodrigues said.