"We're not saying there was a violation of civil rights," says Clifford R. Montiero, head of the NAACP's Providence branch.

08:39 AM EDT on Friday, April 22, 2005

BY ELIZABETH GUDRAIS
Journal Staff Writer

The New England organization of NAACP chapters is asking the FBI to investigate police treatment of Esteban Carpio, the man suspected of killing a Providence police officer on Sunday.

"We're not saying there was a violation of civil rights," Clifford R. Montiero, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Providence branch, said yesterday. "We're not saying there was use of excessive force. All we're doing is asking for America's premier investigative agency to just take a look at it, and let the public know what they find out."

The heads of the Providence Police Department, the Rhode Island State Police and the FBI's Boston field office will meet this morning to discuss the procedures the officers used on Sunday. They scheduled the meeting before receiving the NAACP complaint, an FBI spokeswoman said.

When Carpio appeared in court on Monday, the day after the shooting, his eyes were swollen to slits and stitched cuts on his face appeared to ooze. A plastic mask covered the lower half of his face. It's unclear whether he sustained his injuries in a jump from a third-story window at police headquarters, during his struggle with police officers upon his arrest, or after his arrest.

Montiero did not request the investigation himself. He said Juan Cofield, president of the NAACP's New England Conference, made the request in an e-mail message sent yesterday to Kenneth W. Kaiser, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston field office.

Kaiser will meet with Providence Police Chief Dean M. Esserman and state police Col. Steven M. Pare this morning "to go over the facts and circumstances surrounding the shooting" of Providence Detective Sgt. James L. Allen, state police Maj. Steven G. O'Donnell said.

At 4 p.m. yesterday, two hours before Montiero's announcement, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Boston field office said the office hadn't yet received a formal complaint about Carpio's treatment.

She said Kaiser scheduled the meeting with Esserman and Pare because an agent from the FBI's Providence office assisted with the arrest.

"We want to sit down and review and make sure we were doing what we were supposed to be doing," the spokeswoman, Gail A. Marcinkiewicz, said.

At a meeting at Beneficent Congregational Church on Weybosset Street yesterday evening, the NAACP's Providence branch deliberated how best to address concerns over police treatment of Carpio. But because the regional organization called for an investigation, Montiero said, "Our branch basically didn't have to make a decision. Our branch is supportive of their decision."

Montiero spoke for the members who attended, saying they requested that the meeting be closed to the media. He declined to say how many people came to the meeting. About two dozen entered through the main door of the hall where it took place. All of those approached by reporters declined comment. Montiero said they were probably reluctant to speak out of liability concerns, because he is the only one allowed to speak on behalf of the Providence chapter.

Calls flooded talk radio over Montiero's announcement Tuesday that he would address questions of possible police brutality after Allen's funeral. But yesterday, Montiero, who was a Providence police officer from 1959 to 1962 and later worked as a deputy sheriff, again expressed empathy for the officers who arrested Carpio. "I don't know what I would have done if I had been in that situation," he said. "I would hope I would be able to uphold the oath I took, but there are times when you're more emotional than you should be."

Allen wasn't just a name to Montiero, who attended yesterday's funeral. Montiero worked with Allen's father, Lloyd, who was a Providence police captain, and met the younger Allen when he brought suspects into courtrooms where Montiero was the sheriff on duty. "All week long, I've been 95-percent policeman," Montiero said. "Now I'm starting to put on my civil-rights hat."

While Allen's murder was brutal, and there is "strong evidence" against Carpio, Montiero said, "It doesn't matter what the crime -- he's an American, and we have a standard for how we treat Americans."