Bristol Police Chief Kevin Lynch spoke to both the Bristol Town Council and the public during a Sept. 30 meeting of the board about the department’s training, initiatives and standards with regards to diversity and equity.

Chief Lynch first acknowledged an independent study of traffic stops in Rhode Island that recently flagged Bristol as one of five communities with a statistically high rate of motor vehicle stops involving minority drivers. Bristol was noted, along with Warwick, Westerly, Smithfield and North Smithfield, for having a disproportionate rate of stops involving Black of Hispanic drivers vs. white drivers.

Chief Lynch said this was the first time Bristol had been flagged in this annual study, and he suggested that some of their disproportionate data could be connected to traffic enforcement in areas around Colt State Park or on major roadways like Metacom Avenue. He said data also shows that 60 percent of the motorists stopped in those areas of town were not Bristol residents — since the study compares the demographics of the traffic stops to the demographics of the community, stopping a high number of non-residents might skew the results.

“The department’s actions did not appear intentional in nature,” the chief said. And despite being flagged in the study, he added, “the person who wrote the study gave Bristol a passing score.”

Chief Lynch then went on to talk about the many initiatives and programs taking place in the department to address issues of equity and sensitivity to diverse populations. According to the chief:

• Bristol had the lowest documented use of force in the state (along with Burrillville) in an independent study.

• After losing it, the department re-attained both state and national accreditation — which is no small feat.

• The chief signed a “20 for 20” pledge, along with other Rhode Island police chiefs, to reach and uphold high diversity standards in areas like training, enforcement and hiring.

• The department agreed to enroll in the FBI’s “use of force” reporting database, meaning every use-of-force incident will be logged and shared with the public.

• The department signed an agreement with Roger Williams University, where the university has agreed to hold a spot in each and every criminal justice or law enforcement training they offer, free of charge, to a Bristol officer. “An officer is right now going through a de-escalation training program,” Chief Lynch said.

• The department added, and is training and introducing, a comfort and therapy dog, for use throughout the community.

• They updated their training and policies on the use of force; they banned the use of choke holds.

• They invited feedback and solicited input from black students at the Roger Williams University School of Law and will be meeting with those students as well.

• They held a Diversity training session yesterday (Oct. 7) and invited members of the African American community, including Black Lives Matter rally organizer Dyshell Palmer, to attend and share insights with the officers.

• They looked back through 20 years of records and did not find any investigations into the Bristol Police on issues of race.

“I don’t have all of the answers,” the chief said, “but I plan to listen, to learn, and to make good policies going forward.”