Capt. John J. Ryan, who retired from the Providence Police Department in 2002, is being paid to review New Jersey State Police practices.

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, April 23, 2004

BY W. ZACHARY MALINOWSKI
Journal Staff Writer

Retired Providence police Capt. John J. Ryan, a key figure in the Providence police testing scandal, has resurfaced as part of an oversight team reviewing the policies and practices of the New Jersey State Police.

Ryan joined the team in the winter. According to a federal monitor of the state police, Ryan was brought on board to offer his "expertise on constitutional law" to issues involving traffic stops by state troopers who have been accused of unfairly targeting blacks and other minorities on New Jersey highways.

While Ryan is working as a paid consultant in New Jersey, officials in Providence have moved to revoke his pension for dishonorable service for his alleged misdeeds in the cheating scandal over police promotional tests.

Joseph J. Rodio, lawyer for the Providence police union, was "incredulous" and "shocked" when he learned that Ryan has a role in overseeing a federal consent decree in New Jersey. He said he also thought it was ironic that Ryan is working with the federal authorities at the same time the Justice Department has a review team examining practices of the Providence police when Ryan was the department's director of administration.

"How could the feds investigate him and allow him to be supervising a consent decree?" said Rodio. "I think the Justice Department would want to know that, or at least look into that."

Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, said it's "astonishing" to hear that Ryan is part of the oversight team in New Jersey. Brown pointed out that the Providence Police Department -- while Ryan was a ranking officer -- was found in contempt of court for its failures in collecting data on racial profiling.

"He might be an expert in racial profiling but for all the wrong reasons," Brown said.

Neither Ryan nor his lawyer, Joseph F. Penza Jr., of Warwick, returned calls seeking comment.

IN DECEMBER 1999, New Jersey officials and the Justice Department struck a deal to settle a lawsuit by federal rights officials who alleged that New Jersey state troopers engaged in "intentional racial discrimination."

Under the agreement, called a consent decree, New Jersey is legally obligated to follow and impose about 100 reforms, including trooper training on racial sensitivity, the installation of video cameras in squad cars, and an upgrade in the state police computer system.

The independent monitors are required to submit reports on the improvements within the 2,700-member state police force every six months to U.S. District Court Judge Mary L. Cooper in Trenton.

The monitoring team is led by Dr. James D. Ginger, who runs a Texas-based public sector research and development firm, and Alberto Rivas, a New Jersey lawyer and former federal prosecutor.

Ginger said his firm bid on the consent decree and was awarded the five-year contract for about $1.8 million. Ginger, a former police officer in Evansville, Ind., said he met Ryan, who has a law degree, at a police-training conference several years ago and was impressed with his knowledge on police-training issues.

He said that he was aware of Ryan's problems in Providence, but after speaking with him he was convinced that "what he had done was not a problem." He said they talked about the testing scandal and the city's attempt to revoke his annual pension of $26,440.

"I'm pretty confident that he's not involved," Ginger said. "As I understand it, there is a process ongoing and that may change."

Ginger said he did not contact Providence Police Chief Dean Esserman before hiring Ryan. "I don't want to put him in a position where he has to divulge anything in an ongoing investigation," Ginger said.

Esserman, through a department spokesman, declined to comment for this story. Soon after he was named chief in early 2003, Esserman put together a team of internal investigators to look into the testing scandal. Past investigations from within the department and by a statewide grand jury did not result in any criminal charges.

For years, there had been accusations that there was cheating or that political favorites received promotions in the Providence police, the state's largest police force.

In 2002, during the federal corruption trial of then-Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. and others, the issue took center stage.

Retired Police Chief Urbano Prignano Jr. testified under a grant of immunity that he had given test-source material to two officers and "might have" given the source material to Ryan. At the time, Ryan was in charge of testing.

Ryan's name also surfaced at the trial during testimony about a police recruit whose mother paid $5,000 to a tow-truck operator to get her son into the Providence Police Training Academy.

Testimony revealed that Ryan tried to help the tow-truck operator get the recruit into the academy. The recruit, who had past run-ins with the police, dropped out of the academy with an injury.

Ryan retired in June 2002, just days before he was to be called to testify in an internal investigation involving the testing scandal.

ESSERMAN'S appointed team continues to investigate the testing scandal. In January, he suspended two officers for their alleged roles and the city moved to revoke Ryan's and Prignano's pensions.

The scandal has haunted the Providence police for several years. Members of the rank and file remain upset that fellow officers had an unfair advantage in getting coveted promotions resulting in better pay and choice assignments. It also irks many officers that they may be working for supervisors who allegedly broke the law they are sworn to uphold.

"It's divided this department like you can't believe," said Rodio, the police union lawyer. "The department is at a total standstill in that respect. They want some answers and they are entitled to some."

Ryan was interviewed extensively by the FBI and federal prosecutors. He was never charged with any crimes and never called to testify in the corruption trial that led to the conviction of Cianci and two others.

Nonetheless, Providence police officers nicknamed Ryan "Captain Canary."

Since his retirement two years ago, Ryan has worked as a consultant, speaking at law-enforcement conferences around the country. He is listed as an instructor for the Indiana-based Public Agency Training Council, which calls itself the "nation's largest private provider of law-enforcement and fire-service training."

The agency's Web site, which include Ryan's photograph, reads, "Jack's law degree and experience as a police officer gives him the unique perspective of the legal and liability issues."

The Web site also notes that Ryan is an adjunct professor at Salve Regina University in Newport. A spokesman for the university said that Ryan taught classes in justice administration for about 10 years before he took a leave of absence in 2002.

Ryan is scheduled to speak in June at the Rhode Island Bar Association's annual meeting at the Rhode Island Convention Center. His presentation is called, "Stop! In the Name of the Law."

John M. Roney, president of the bar association, said Ryan was selected because of his "unique perspective" as a lawyer and former police officer. He said that Ryan is a nationally recognized expert on search-and-seizure issues who has spoken at Georgetown University Law School in Washington, D.C.

Roney said that Ryan's past problems in Providence have nothing to do with his expertise as a lecturer.

"Looking at it in hindsight, it was not a relevant consideration," he said.

IN NEW JERSEY, Ginger, who heads the oversight team, said that Ryan is responsible for reviewing hundreds of videotapes and police reports involving stops by state troopers. He said that Ryan visits state police barracks across New Jersey, gathers material and incorporates it into reports.

Ginger, who would not dislose how much Ryan is paid, said he will spend about two weeks in New Jersey over the next year.

"He's a quick study," Ginger said. "He is picking up on exactly the kinds of things I wanted him to pick up. He's doing a fine job."