In August, a second disciplinary panel made up of two current and one former police officer decided that Joseph Hanley — a Providence Police Department sergeant who was captured on camera repeatedly hitting Rishod Gore, a then-28-year-old Black man — should be reinstated after his 2020 suspension for use of excessive force.
In a 2-1 vote, the panel ruled that Hanley should receive a 45-day suspension — which he already served — rather than termination.
On April 19, 2020, police body cameras and a bystander recorded Hanley repeatedly kicking and punching Gore while he was handcuffed and lying on the ground. Hanley could be heard calling Gore an “animal” and a “savage.”
Hanley was found guilty of simple assault and battery in criminal court in 2021. He appealed the verdict and, after a deadlocked jury resulted in a mistrial, accepted a plea deal in 2024.
Per the R.I. Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights, also called LEOBOR, non-probationary police officers have the right to a disciplinary hearing by three current or former officers to determine their punishment for misconduct. Because of the R.I. LEOBOR, the City could not fire Hanley without approval from this panel.
A LEOBOR panel met for the first time in 2025 once Hanley’s criminal case had concluded. They found Hanley guilty of three out of 10 violations but ruled that he should be suspended for 45 days rather than being fired.
The City appealed the decision and a second panel met this summer, which found Hanley guilty of four violations but maintained the same 45-day suspension punishment.
The City of Providence plans to appeal the August reinstatement.
“Mayor (Brett) Smiley continues to believe that Sergeant Hanley’s termination is necessary to uphold the standards expected of Providence police officers,” City of Providence spokesperson Josh Estrella wrote in an email to The Herald.
“Hanley’s conduct does not reflect the professionalism and integrity that the department is meant to uphold,” he added.
Hanley is currently suspended with pay pending the City’s appeal.
Michael Colucci, Hanley’s lawyer, wrote in an email to The Herald that Hanley wants to “return to the job that he loves and spent most of (his) adult life doing — protecting and serving.”
“The tide has turned and I see a lot of reaction that suggests this officer should be returned to his job,” Colucci wrote.
In an email to The Herald, Steven Brown, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, described the trajectory of the case as “disappointing, but not totally surprising.”
“The case exemplifies all that was wrong with LEOBOR and the onerous obligations it imposed on police departments” disciplining officers’ misconduct, he added.
In 1976, Rhode Island became the third state nationwide to enact LEOBOR protections. Some consider the state to have some of the strongest police protections in the nation.
In 2024, against a backdrop of advocacy against officers’ insulation from punishment, Gov. Dan McKee signed reforms to LEOBOR into law. These reforms adjusted the panel’s composition, punishment scale and level of public transparency. For example, the panel makeup was altered from three officers — one selected by each side and one by a neutral party — to include three randomly-selected officers, a judge and an attorney. Notably, the panel is still majority-police.
But according to Steven Brown, “the revised version of LEOBOR has numerous flaws of its own,” because the reforms are “largely cosmetic.”
“Ultimately, any statute providing police officers” and not other government employees “with unique and strong protections against the imposition of discipline is simply unwarranted,” Steven Brown wrote.
A spokesperson for McKee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since Hanley was charged before the reform bill was signed into law, his panel is governed by the older LEOBOR guidelines.
Colucci wrote that the previous LEOBOR panel makeup has “worked very well” while “the new process is proving to be more costly and less efficient for both sides.”
Meanwhile, some have criticized the costs that the city has racked up in prosecuting Hanley. According to NBC 10, the City has spent almost $400,000 in legal fees on this case.
“While pursuing the matter through the legal process has costs, accountability and ensuring officers meet department standards remain essential,” Estrella wrote to The Herald.
To Steven Brown, this financial burden is “the regrettable consequence of having a statute like LEOBOR in the first place.”
“At this point, there is no ideal outcome,” he wrote. The case “should have resulted in final disciplinary action a long time ago.”
Talia Katz is a senior staff writer covering city hall and crime.
