Rhode Island drug arrests fell, but racial inequities persisted

This observational study examined racial and ethnic patterns in overall and drug-related arrests in Rhode Island using state crime-reporting data from January 2017 through December 2025. The researchers assessed arrest trends among non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic/Latine, and non-Hispanic White individuals, during a period when the state and other jurisdictions introduced reforms intended to reduce arrests for low-level offenses such as drug possession.

Since 2021, average monthly drug-related arrests decreased only marginally. Despite this reduction, drug-related arrest rates remained 6.4 times higher among non-Hispanic Black individuals and 1.9 times higher among Hispanic/Latine individuals than among non-Hispanic White individuals. The abstract-based findings show persistent racial and ethnic inequities, but they cannot establish whether policing reforms caused the changes or whether fewer drug-possession arrests were offset by increases in other drug-related offenses.