AG Says He is Not Soft on Public Corruption or Providence Police (posted August 13, 2001)
Appearing on WPRI-TV show "Newsmakers" with Jack White, Rhode Island Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse denied that he and his office have gone soft on public corruption or cases involving the Providence Police Department. Asked by Providence Journal reporter Scott MacKay why there hasn't been greater progress in these areas, Whitehouse said "some matters are being looked at already" and others were held back by the federal probe into Operation Plunderdome, the Providence corruption case.
The Attorney General said that some evidence from his office had been turned over to the U.S. Attorney's office for use in its investigation into Providence corruption. When that evidence did not produce federal indictments, Whitehouse said his office had requested access to grand jury materials so it could determine whether any state laws were broken by Providence Police. He said that recently, the U.S. Attorney's office had decided it was not a good idea to share information with the Attorney General's staff prior to the Plunderdome trial. Whitehouse indicated that based on this decision, his office was "going forward on its own" to look at the Providence Police.
Among the incidents being examined with the police were missing evidence, fights on the street, and a well-publicized case when Providence police officers attacked a stall manned by a parking lot attendant. All in all, he said, there is "a lot going on" in terms of state investigations.
