01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, April 28, 2005

I sat down with a lawyer who is an authority on police brutality cases and asked about the capture and handling of Esteban Carpio. Carpio is accused of killing Providence Detective Sgt. James Allen and appeared in court with swollen eyes and bleeding cuts and wearing a grotesque mask the authorities call a spit shield.

The lawyer said that based on what he knows -- and he is in a position to know more than you -- he does not believe excessive force was used. But he welcomes an investigation the FBI is leading into the question and urges that until you see the results you exercise caution.

Providence and state police are taking part along with the FBI. All three agencies were involved in Carpio's arrest.

The lawyer I spoke with is Mayor David Cicilline. When he practiced, he often represented people suing over police brutality.

Since the FBI, the Providence police, and the state police all were involved in capturing Carpio, you might think Cicilline would readily see the wisdom of an independent investigation, something Dennis Langley of the Urban League tells me he'd like to see. Langley was in the forefront of minority-community demands, spurned by then-Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse, for a special prosecutor to probe the 2000 killing of Sgt. Cornel Young Jr., a black policeman, by two white colleagues. An independent inquiry, Langley says, would put "distance" between the investigated and the investigators.

But Cicilline says the first thing to do is await the outcome of the probe already under way:

"If, at the conclusion of that, it is clear to everyone that the process that was followed was appropriate and that in fact the law enforcement agencies did not use excessive force, then that will be the conclusion.

"If, in fact, there continue to be strong questions from the community, then we will revisit that question."

Cicilline's preliminary belief that there was no excessive force is based on being briefed by Providence Chief Dean Esserman and by being at the hospital when Esserman gave orders to ensure Carpio's safety.

By that time, Detective Allen already was dead. The chief and the mayor stood by the body for hours, with the family, officers, and community leaders coming by to pay their respects. At times the mayor cried, "particularly when officers came in and got very emotional and said goodbye." He says he kept thinking of Detective Allen and his sacrifice and his family.

By the time he saw Carpio's court appearance on television, he knew it would be tough to watch. "I had already been prepared by the chief that there had been a mask put on the suspect and it was an awful and graphic scene and the chief . . . acknowledged that anyone who would have seen that mask would be taken aback by it, and he was right."

But Cicilline did not second-guess the decision of corrections and sheriffs' officials to make Carpio use it.

Nor was he alarmed by Carpio's bloated appearance. He knew that Carpio had jumped from a third-floor window and there had been a violent struggle. "It did not surprise me that during the course of that a suspect would sustain injuries."

Cicilline says that if there were reason to believe any of the police agencies used excessive force in this case, "I would certainly acknowledge it."

I hope Cicilline never has to do that. But people must be confident in his judgment. Any investigation must not only be objective but also seen as objective. Be ready to make Cicilline follow through: If there is any doubt in public perception about the findings of the current probe, let there be a new inquiry whose independence cannot be questioned.

M. Charles Bakst, The Journal's political columnist, can be reached by e-mail at mbakst [at] projo.com