Police chief defends department after judge accuses officers of lying
PROVIDENCE, R.I. Providence's police chief says the department is investigating a judge's belief that several officers lied during an officer's trial on assault charges. As District Court Judge Madeline Quirk found Officer David Ramage guilty of assaulting two women this week, she also accused him and three other officers of lying under oath.
She said there's a "code of silence" in the police department.
Police Chief Dean Esserman met with the judge yesterday to discuss her concerns.
He says he's worried about the implication that there's a code in the department that permits lying.
Esserman said nothing like that exists, and said Quirk told him her concerns were with the officers in the case, not the department as a whole.
But he said the department is going to investigate the judge's concerns, and he has ordered a copy of the court transcript.
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