Political Roundtable: Neronha on guns, RI’s hospital landscape, the death of Tyre Nichols & more

Political Roundtable

The recent death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police came almost three years after the death of George Floyd. The clear question is, what will it take to stop this? What do police need to do differently to prevent minor infractions from escalating into violent tragedies? Welcome to Political Roundtable. I’m Ian Donnis. This week, I’ll ask Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha about his views on police violence. We’ll also discuss the local healthcare landscape, a new proposal to restrict guns in the state, the threat posed by opioid addiction and other issues.

Transcript:

Ian Donnis: Attorney General Peter Neronha, welcome back to The Public’s Radio.

Peter Neronha: Good to be here again, as always.

Ian Donnis: Tyre Nichols was laid to rest this week in Memphis, he is just the latest black person to die at the hands of police violence in recent years. We’ve seen how cellphone cameras have made this problem much more tangible for a lot of people. But still, this persists, what is it going to stop these kinds of minor criminal encounters not even perhaps not even a criminal encounter, minor confrontation from escalating into a tragedy?

Peter Neronha: Well look Ian, it certainly is a tragedy and it’s in it’s hard to watch those videos. You know, I think one reaction is I’m grateful for the body cameras, you know, we’ve worked hard to get a body camera program here. So at least we know what happened. And so I think it’s clear that police officers need to be and will be held accountable. And so for those few that step out a line, there has to be consequences. And then, of course, you know, focusing on training on how to deal with these with these interactions with the public. You know, that training has to be very, very strong. That’s very clear. And I’ll say this leadership in the departments themselves, I’m just talking generally across the country, that leadership from mid level: sergeants, corporals, lieutenants, captains has to be really strong in any organization. That’s how you build professional behavior, when you look to your leaders for how you should act, that builds a better department. And my hope is that that will happen across the country.

Ian Donnis: We know that traffic stops can be unpredictable for police, and they have to be careful, but at the same time, our police and Rodon getting the appropriate kind of training to prevent non events, in interactions with Black people from becoming a fatal confrontation?

Peter Neronha: Yeah, I think so, Ian. I think our Police Chiefs Association, and through what’s called the POST, the Police Officer Standards and Training, the municipal Academy, the Providence Academy and the State Police Academy, are training their officers really well. Now, that said, we saw that we had our own share of incidents here, you know, again, small percentage compared to the overall interactions with police. But certainly training is really important. But again, I go back to the body cameras, you know, the body cameras really shed light on the interactions between police and the public. And you know, that should be a disincentive for police officers to act in ways that could lead to bad outcomes. And it’s also a check on, frankly, the public that so that when they make allegations against police that aren’t accurate we see that as well. That’s why I really believe the body cam program that we did here in Rhode Island in the last year or so, so important to building trust in our system and you know, holding people accountable when they don’t do the right thing.

Ian Donnis: You’re among five top state officials this week who put their support behind a proposal to ban military style semi-automatic rifles. Handguns are the kind of gun most commonly used in crime, why not put the focus there instead?

Peter Neronha: Well, the focus is there. And if you look at what we’ve done over the last several years in terms of taking on violent crime, that’s plainly where our, our focus has been. So for example, we passed a ghost gun ban couple years, 18 months ago. We’ve really focused now on ghost gun prosecution, we prosecute over 50. So those are mostly handguns. Not all we’ve had some ghost gun AR-15s as well. But the problem with AR-15s is that when they are used, they cause great damage. They are a real threat to the public when they are used, and we’ve seen them used here in Rhode Island at the press conference, I give three examples. I could have given more about how AR-15s are being used to endanger the public. There’s a there’s a case in Providence, where a man strangled his girlfriend hit her in the head with his AR-15. 911 was 911 was called. He walked out of the house and put two rounds through the windshield of a police cruiser that was responding. You know, we’ve had the guy up in Burrillville, who had eight ghost gun AR fifteens, you know, spraying rounds around his neighborhood, if you will, you know, neighbors very concerned scrambling, you know, as they heard those shots go off. So there’s no question that these that these weapons cause a risk to the public. They’re here in Rhode Island, another man used one fired one out of an SUV put a round through the back window of a car and out the front of the window. And you can see in that video, people scrambling. So the notion that assault weapons aren’t here, we just recovered another one in an incident within the last week. So there’s no question that assault weapons also pose a threat to the public, when they’re used a significant threat to the public more of a threat than a handgun. We should focus on that too. So it’s not a zero sum game where we don’t focus on handguns. Of course, we’re focusing on handguns. But my goal and all of the gun legislation that I’ve supported is lowering risk. And when we take these firearms out of circulation to the extent we can now remember, even this ban would grandfather in all existing assault type weapons AR-15 style weapons, we make the public more safe.

Ian Donnis: You’ve been outspoken in repeatedly calling in interviews with me and other reporters for a long term strategy to make — bring more sense and resolve problems. with Rhode Island’s healthcare and hospital landscape. Seems like you’re the only one really talking about this. Do you see any forward motion to creating this kind of long term strategy?

Peter Neronha: Well, we need to create it. You know, I think one of the things —

Ian Donnis: So that would that would be a no?

Peter Neronha: Yeah, I do. I don’t think we’re leading there at all. I think I think we, and I think we need to create that leadership. You know, if we need to fill the vacuum, then we will. But there’s clearly a vacuum, we’ve got a system that looks good on paper, right. But it is not strong, the underlying metrics aren’t strong. So it’s all well and good that we have access or insurance that covers most of the state. But if you don’t have enough primary care doctors to deliver or primary care providers to deliver primary care, you don’t have a strong foundation. If our hospitals — the fundamental way that we pay for our hospital care. And we’ve seen that in Roger Williams and Fatima, both hospitals are in danger, financially. You know, it’s all well and good that they’re delivering good health care today. But will they be able to deliver health care in three or four years when the $80 million that we have in the bank to make sure they keep operating is gone? What happens at that point? So yeah, I’m really worried about that. And I think there’s a vacuum to be filled there for sure.

Ian Donnis: Rhode Island was part of a multi state settlement last year with the Sackler family and Purdue family, Purdue pharma, the manufacturer of Oxycontin, which many people blame for kicking off the opioid epidemic. The Sackler family really had its way for many years with the US Food and Drug Administration, which approves or rejects drugs, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the Sackler family has been able to retain most of its fortune. So does this really show that the super wealthy can game the system in America and get their way, even if they’re acting against the public interest.

Peter Neronha: Yeah, look, you know, I understand why that’s a viewpoint that some would have, and it’s not wrong, frankly, one of my biggest concerns and why I objected to the Sackler settlement that many of my colleagues around the country agreed to there are only nine of us who held out for a much stronger deal in the end was because a lot of the Sacklers assets had been moved offshore, and we didn’t have insight into what those assets were. And so, you know, by taking a stand there, we did a couple of things. We increased Rhode Island’s recovery, we doubled it more than doubled it from $20 million to $45 million and and put over a billion dollars into the deal across the country to do opioid abatement, recovery and treatment. But at the end of the day, you’re absolutely right, the Sacklers moved a lot of money offshore, and in our ability to access that money, particularly as state entities is very, very, very, very difficult, if not impossible.

Ian Donnis: The Rhode Island Department of Health put out a Public Health Alert this week about heightened overdoses in Charlestown, North Kingstown, South Kingstown, Westerly and Block Island. If the 10s of millions of dollars flowing into Rhode Island, from this Sackler settlement are not sufficient to curb the opioid epidemic here, what will it take?

Peter Neronha: Well, look, I think it’s more than just the Sacklers. You know, we’re talking about all in over almost $250 million in cash alone, if you add in the settlements with the three big pharmacy chains that’s happened recently. So that money is beginning to flow. So for example, what’s it going to be used for? Expanding residential treatment facilities, meaning there’s a bed for somebody who wants treatment can’t get a bed right now. So this money already flowing is going to do that kind of expansion of, of our treatment, our treatment ability, so that’s going to make an impact. There’s no doubt in my mind, look, it’s not going to be cured overnight. It’s not gonna be solved overnight. But these resources are going to go a long way to helping people get into recovery, and successfully completed I hope.

Ian Donnis: Do you expect to spend any more effort this year on pushing for public access to shorelines an issue that’s taken on a bigger profile?

Peter Neronha: Yeah, absolutely. You know, we’re involved now down in Westerly, the Weekapaug fire district we’re involved down there, I expect we’ll be involved elsewhere. We’ve done a lot of work in, for example, in Newport and Warwick, and in Providence at the end of Public street. Yeah, it’s a priority for our environmental team. I’m really proud of their work. Its work that really wasn’t being done before we took office. And we’ve developed a real strong capability there.

Ian Donnis: We haven’t heard much recently about the status of the state federal investigation into the ILO group contract awarded by the McKee administration. Is that any closer to reaching a conclusion?

Peter Neronha: Yeah, I really can’t comment on that. Ian, you know, like most investigations, you know, particularly when the federal government’s involved, as has been publicly reported, you know, in particular, you know, really want to be careful on what I have to say there. I will say this, you know, in anything that we do, particularly in partnership with the federal government, you know, we want to be careful in how we approach a meeting, we want to be thorough, we want to take the time we need to get the job done in the right way. But at the same time, we understand the need to move quickly. So I really don’t have an update on that. Beyond what I’ve just said,

Ian Donnis: When you were inaugurated for your second term at the convention center last month, you referenced a remark by your mother, who said it’s kind of the beginning of the end potentially of your time in public office. If I ask you about your political future, I know you’ll talk about how you love being a prosecutor. But what criteria would have to line up for you to seriously consider a run for governor in 2026?

Peter Neronha: Well, look, I mean, you’re right, I’m focused on the job I have to do right now. And I have four years left to do it. You know, I ran for attorney general, because I love the work. And so for me to think about any other political office, any other political office, it would have to be work that I think that I would really enjoy. And I’d also have to think that it’s that it’s something where my skill set could be valued. You know, I’m not wired as a politician, frankly. So I don’t really think about those things. You know, when I finished this term, I’ll be 63. And, you know, anything I do after that will have to be something I really want to do.

Ian Donnis: The New York Times reports this week on potential conflict of interest questions involving the wife of US Supreme Court Justice, John Roberts. Is there a need for an independent body to vet conflict of interest issues involving the Supreme Court?

Peter Neronha: You know, what’s interesting, Ian is that the Supreme Court has become more of a flashpoint obviously, in recent years. And, you know, frankly, I don’t know a lot about how their internal conflicts of interest system works. And you know, when I was in the Justice Department, we had a separate Office of Inspector General that would take a look at how we were functioning, if there were concerns about a US Attorney’s Office with people in the US Attorney’s Office and the main Justice Department. So perhaps something like that is necessary if it doesn’t exist already. But there’s there’s no question that the Supreme Court has lost, for whatever reason, lost in many quarters, its credibility. And that’s a really grave concern doesn’t matter what your political bent is, you know, the public’s respect and confidence in the Supreme Court, and a belief that what they’re doing is based on the law and the Constitution, because that’s really what they’re doing in most instances is, is applying a constitutional analysis is based only on sound legal thinking to the extent the public thinks it’s driven by anything else. That’s a really bad place for us to be.

Ian Donnis: We’ve got to leave it there. Thank you very much for joining us, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha.

Peter Neronha: Thanks, Ian. Good to be with you.

—

Back in 2002, Steve Laffey won election as mayor in his native Cranston. With his gift for gab and populist message, Laffey went on to develop a statewide profile. He nonetheless fell short in a GOP U.S. Senate primary against Lincoln Chafee in 2006. Within a few years, Laffey moved to Colorado, where he finished fourth in a Republican congressional primary in 2014. But the former Cranstonian has never been short on ambition. Laffey has announced a campaign as part of the GOP field for president next year. You can read about that and a lot more in my weekly TGIF column, posting around 4 this afternoon.

That’s Political Roundtable for this week. Our producer is James Baumgartner.

I’m Ian Donnis, and I’ll see you on the radio.

The post Political Roundtable: Neronha on guns, RI’s hospital landscape, the death of Tyre Nichols & more appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio.