Warwick police responded Tuesday to allegations that their participation in the Rhode Island Pride parade broke an agreement with organizers.
Rhode Island Pride said in a statement Monday that it felt compelled to apologize to the LGBTQ community for a law enforcement contingent in Saturday's parade in Providence.
The Pride board of directors said police were disrespectful by adding extra patrols to the parade that festival organizers hadn't agreed to.
The board said it made an agreement with GOAL -- the Gay Officers Action League -- for one unmarked motorcycle and one unmarked car in the parade without lights.
"At the time of Parade line up, GOAL arrived with two marked motorcycles and the unmarked car. At some point in time after they checked in, they circumvented the Parade barriers and, without our knowledge or consent, added a fully marked Warwick Police patrol car," Pride's statement said.
Col. Rick Rathbun, chief of the Warwick Police Department, told NBC 10 News that accusations that the department intentionally circumvented a check-in or barrier are false. The chief said the department communicated with GOAL before the parade and that they didn't show up spontaneously.
"We checked in with a volunteer, provided our location number in the parade, and we were physically escorted by a volunteer on foot to our position," Rathbun said. "A NBC 10 reporter witnessed our check-in. We were in the staging area for over an hour and no one from the event approached us about our check-in or participation in the parade.”
The NBC 10 reporter covering the event said she wasn't sure if what she saw was an official check-in. The station's video does show a parked Warwick police cruiser, which later made its way through a crowd.
"This was part of our ongoing efforts with department engagement and promoting inclusion of all community members," Rathbun added.
GOAL said in a statement released Tuesday evening that "there were no agreements or pledges to not use emergency lights throughout the parade route and not have any personnel in uniform."
The statement continued: "We also were not provided official restrictions or stipulations on motor vehicle contingents with noise or light display limitations in the 'RI Pride's Illuminated Night Parade.'"
GOAL said it thought the lights supported the theme of an "illuminated" parade.
The organization said none of Rhode Island Pride's volunteers asked them to change or remove anything while in the staging area.
"Lastly, we have learned and understand that there are some members of the LGBT community who experience discomfort interacting with law enforcement and we empathize with these individuals. Please be assured that GOAL New England serves as a resource to ALL. Our mission and focus is based on promoting inclusiveness," GOAL said.
GOAL said it would contact the Rhode Island Pride committee to discuss its concerns about this year's parade.
NBC 10 News also reached out to Pride organizers to ask them specifically why they were concerned about police participating in the parade, but they did not immediately respond.
The board said it plans to schedule a meeting this week to discuss what to do next.