NEW: Mayoral Candidate Smiley Unveils Plan to Make City Safer
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Providence Mayoral candidate Brett Smiley has unveiled his new plan to fight crime and violence in the Capital City. Smiley showcased his 8-page proposal, entitled the “Safest City Plan,” at the Silver Lake Community Center this morning.
Making Providence Safer
According to Smiley, the only way to make the streets of Providence safer is to implement a more aggressive and proactive approach toward improving the city.
“Of all cities in the United States with more than 100,000 people, Providence is the 183rd safest," said Smiley. "Last year, major cities like Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Dallas all had lower crime rates than Providence. This is unacceptable, and it has to change. With the policies outlined in this comprehensive plan, I challenge Providence to become the safest city of its size in America.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Plan's Focus
Smiley’s “Safest City Plan” includes a number of different policy proposals focusing on three areas:
- A smarter, stronger policing model
- Ending the cycle of violence and disorder
- Creating a public safety system that works for both residents and businesses
“We need more cops on the streets, a stronger commitment to community policing, smarter technology, targeted strategies for fighting gang violence and domestic violence, civilian oversight in the process and more. There is no one solution to the problems that face our city,” added Smiley.
Click here to read Smiley's plan in its entirety.
Providence Mayoral Race
In addition to Smiley, the current field of official Democratic mayoral candidates includes former Housing Court Judge Jorge Elorza and Lorne Adrain, managing director at Ballentine Partners. City Council President Michael Solomon is also expected to enter the race.
The winner of the Democratic Primary will face Republican Dr. Daniel Harrop, who is running for mayor for the third time.
Related Slideshow: Providence’s Most Dangerous Neighborhoods
Each week, the Providence Police Department releases its "Weekly Crime Comparison Report" on its website. The breakdown covers how many crimes have occured in the past week, past month, and year to date in each Police District and comparing them with the same time interval from the year prior, reflecting changes in crime rates. GoLocal has distilled the key data points from this weeks report to reflect YTD crime data grouped by general category- violent, property, other, and total. We ranked the districts by 2013 violent crimes to date. For the full report as filed by the PPD, click here.
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