Racial and Ethnic Inequities in Overall and Drug-Related Arrests in Rhode Island from 2017 to 2025.

Over the past few years, jurisdictions such as Rhode Island (RI) have implemented reform measures to reduce arrests for low-level offenses (e.g., drug possession and other drug-related arrests). It is unclear whether recent reductions in arrests are proportionate across racial and ethnic groups. To describe trends in arrests (for all offenses and drug-related offenses) by race and ethnicity, we used data from January 2017 to December 2025 from the RI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Since 2021, average monthly drug-related arrests have decreased marginally, but rates remained 6.4 and 1.9 times higher among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic/Latine individuals, respectively, compared with non-Hispanic White individuals. Further investigation is necessary to parse the effects of policing reforms on racial inequities, and to assess whether reductions in drug possession arrests are compensated by increases in other types of drug-related offenses.