Rhode Island
Assessors find ‘nonconformities’ with national standards at RI Crime Lab. What to know.
Retired RI state trooper Robert Kenahan remembers fallen comrades
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- Rhode Island State Crime Lab assessors found 15 nonconformities with national standards during a March review.
- Some nonconformities involved firearms analysis, an area under scrutiny after a 2021 error.
- The lab has until May 30 to address these issues and is currently working with assessors to achieve re-accreditation.
The Rhode Island State Crime Laboratory isn’t through the entire re-accreditation process yet, but assessors have found that the lab can competently follow policies, processes and procedures and meet “all applicable accreditation requirements.”
At the same time, a team of assessors also found that the lab was not conforming to 15 national standards – or 8.7% – out of 172 applicable standards during their March review of the lab, according to the assessors’ report.
Some of those “nonconformities” involved the part of the lab that examines and analyzes firearms, which drew heavy scrutiny last year after employees linked spent bullet shells from the scene of a 2021 Pawtucket homicide to the wrong gun.
The lab has until May 30 to complete its “action guidelines.”
The lab’s longtime director, Dennis Hilliard, told the Rhode Island State Crime Laboratory Commission during a May 22 meeting that the nonconformities were being “addressed.”
“All the nonconformities are being addressed and are under review by the audit team leader,” Hilliard said.
After discussion about the report, the commission voted to go into executive session “discuss and potentially vote on matters pertaining to the job performance and/or character of a person or persons,” according to the meeting agenda. When the commission returned to open session, members did not disclose what was discussed.
What were the ‘nonconformities’ found?
Assessors from the ANSI National Accreditation Board found that the wording of some procedures within the lab were insufficient to “ensure the consistent application of testing as well as consistency in the reporting of results between examiners,” specifically with firearms and “fire debris.”
They found that the lab had not sufficiently recorded its original observations regarding firearms to enable the same analysis to be repeated again.
In another part of the lab that examines “fire debris,” the assessors found that a manual does not include guidelines for interpreting the examiners’ analysis and its method does not provide any option for reporting results that aren’t conclusive, according to their report.
The lab operates under 172 applicable standards, according to Hilliard and was not conformed with almost 9% of those standards.
What comes next?
The report is not final and the assessors have not yet approved the lab for re-accreditation.
Those who rely on the lab, referenced in the report as “customers,” have not been told about the preservation of certain items created during the testing of fire debris, the report says.
“Some of the things they brought up we’ve been doing for years, but now they’re an issue,” Hilliard told the commission.
“So in this case,” Hilliard said, “I think, due to our situation, they were being just diligent in providing a full assessment and that they were looking at pretty much everything that could go wrong.”
He likened the way that lab personnel “interpret” standards to baseball officiating.
“One umpire might call a strike,” he said, “the other umpire might not call a strike.”
RI Crime Lab has been under scrutiny
After the discovery of problems with firearms analysis last year, the lab suspended that type of toolmark work by in-house staff, relying on mutual aid from other New England states.
Later, it turned to private contractors for work that involves identifying connections between bullets and the guns that fire them.
At the present time, the lab is operating with 10 in-house staff and two private contractors, who are handling all firearms analysis, according to Hilliard.
Rhode Island
RI AG Neronha joins lawsuit against Trump admin for canceled disaster prevention grants
Extreme weather, like the floods in Texas, is causing eco-anxiety
Flash floods, heat domes and wildfires are causing our youth to experience eco-distress. How do we help them be more resilient?
- Trump administration terminated a billion-dollar program aimed at protecting communities against natural disasters through infrastructure upgrades.
- RI joined coalition of 20 states in filing the lawsuit against FEMA and Kristi Noem.
- FEMA and Noem have come under scrutiny for their lackluster response to the Texas floods.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha sued the Trump administration on July 16 to stop the termination of a multibillion-dollar grant program aimed at protecting communities against natural disasters through infrastructure upgrade projects.
Neronha joined a coalition of 20 mostly Democrat-led states in filing the lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Boston federal court.
“There’s no denying that Rhode Island is particularly susceptible to the ever-increasing effects of climate change, which is why we need to stay ahead of the curve on mitigating risk,” said Neronha in a press release. “It’s high time we seriously ask ourselves if this is a federal government for the people, or for itself. Anyone who’s paying attention already knows the answer.”
The lawsuit comes just a couple weeks after devastating flooding in Texas killed over 130 people. In the weeks since, FEMA and Noem have come under scrutiny for their lackluster response to the disaster. According to reporting from The New York Times, the agency struggled to answer calls from survivors because call center contracts had not been extended. Noem has denied the reporting.
Joining Neronha in filing this lawsuit are attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
What is the BRIC program?
Neronha is suing over FEMA’s termination of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program in April.
The BRIC program provides communities with resources to fortify their infrastructure before natural disasters strike. It covers 75% of the costs of infrastructure programs (90% in rural areas) that are meant to protect communities from natural disasters.
According to the lawsuit, BRIC has provided about $4.5 billion in grants for nearly 2,000 projects over the past four years.
What is the disaster funding used for?
According to the Attorney General’s office, the funding has been used for “difficult-to-fund projects” like evacuation shelters and flood walls, safeguarding utility grids against wildfires, protecting wastewater and drinking water infrastructure, and fortifying bridges, roadways, and culverts.
In Rhode Island, the University of Rhode Island is currently using funding from the program to develop new and enhanced tools to map flood risk in Rhode Island for coastal and inland waters.
Why are the attorneys general suing?
FEMA said they terminated the BRIC program because it had been wasteful, ineffective and politicized.
But the attorneys general say that mitigation projects reduce injuries, save lives, protect property and save money, and that the ending of the program means that Americans face a “higher risk of harm from natural disasters.”
They say that the move to cancel the program is in violation of Congress’s decision to fund it and violates the Separation of Powers and the Administrative Procedures Act. They are also claiming that Cameron Hamilton, who gave the directive to terminate the BRIC program as the acting director of FEMA, was not properly appointed and therefore did not have the authority to cancel it.
“The President understands that he and his Administration do not have the power to unilaterally withhold Congressionally allocated funding to the states, and yet here we are again,” said Neronha. “Over the past six months, Democratic attorneys general from across the nation have sued to claw back rightfully allocated funds for everything from education and infrastructure to public health and emergency management.”
The attorneys general are seeking to prevent the termination of the BRIC program and restore the funds.
Contributing: Reuters
Inside the Rhode Island State House: Video tour
In 2024, tour guides gave more than 550 tours to more than 12,000 visitors from all over the world.
Journal Staff
PROVIDENCE – Neil Steinberg is stepping down as the chairman of the board of the Rhode Island Life Science Hub, a role he assumed in October 2023 after he retired from the Rhode Island Foundation five months prior.
In a three-page resignation letter dated July 15, Steinberg wrote that he wants to spend time with his family and travel as part of his retirement, along with working on “other key” priorities in the state including public education, health care and housing.
“Given the SUBSTANTIAL time I have invested in the past few years, and the solid foundation now established, I am willing to make this resignation effective on a day of your choosing, but not later than September 30, 2025,” he wrote to Gov. Dan McKee.
Steinberg was volunteering his time on the board.
The Life Science Hub was initially funded with $45 million from the state. Its president and CEO is Mark Turco.
What has the RI Life Science Hub been doing?
Among the other achievements is this last legislative session when the hub secured changes to its enabling statute, the organization convened a 500-person summit and a $10-million agreement to establish Ocean State Labs, an incubator for life sciences, to be housed inside of the new seven-story building that also will house the new State Health Laboratory.
“Our progress confirms the potential for the life sciences to contribute to Rhode Island’s broader economic development strategy over the long term,” Steinberg wrote. “Realizing this potential will, of course, require additional financial resources beyond the ARPA funds which will fund the agency through 2026.”
Steinberg also lauded landing Organogenesis Holdings preparing to open a manufacturing facility for advanced biomedical supplies in Smithfield.
McKee: Steinberg established a ‘strong foundation’
In a written statement, McKee wrote that Steinberg helped establish a “strong foundation for this growing industry” and lauded his efforts to land Organogenesis in Rhode Island.
“We’re excited to build on that momentum with Hub President Dr. Mark Turco and the board as we continue expanding opportunities in life sciences and strengthening Rhode Island’s economy,” McKee wrote.
Read Steinberg’s resignation letter below:
This story has been updated with new information
The bodies of two Massachusetts brothers who went missing near a Rhode Island beach Saturday night were recovered by authorities Sunday morning, according to police.
Stoughton residents Aldino and Valdir Centeio, 27 and 31, respectively, went missing following an incident near Warrens Point Beach in Little Compton on July 12, according to an email from Little Compton police. Little Compton Fire Rescue and a state emergency management department boat recovered their bodies around 11:15 a.m. the following day near where they were last scene.
The Rhode Island Medical Examiner’s Office has taken custody of the Centeios’ bodies, police said.
The initial distress call reported that a man had fallen from rocks along the shoreline into the water near the Warren’s Point Beach Club, The Boston Globe reported. Witnesses told police a second fisherman jumped into the water to try to rescue the first man, but both were swept away by the current.
A third man also went into the water to try to help the first two men, but he had to be rescued, the Globe reported.
No further information has been released.
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