In 2019, Bryan Thomas, a Black man, filed a lawsuit alleging that Officer Ian Bissonette engaged in racial profiling during a traffic stop. Thomas claimed that Bissonette arrived at the scene after Officer Switzer initiated the stop and participated in the search of Thomas’s vehicle without consent. Thomas was held in the back of a cruiser for nearly two hours while officers searched his car, causing damage to his personal belongings. The case was dismissed by the judge after Thomas confirmed that the taillight was functional. ([providencejournal.com](https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/courts/2022/01/06/ct-man-alleges-north-smithfield-ri-woonsocket-police-used-racial-profiling/9105004002/?utm_source=openai))
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