3 ‘Defund the Police’ Advocates Were at Podium for Brown Shooter Manhunt

3 ‘Defund the Police’ Advocates Were at Podium for Brown Shooter Manhunt

During the course of the five days when the investigation into the mass shooting at Brown University, the podium was full of state and local politicians as well as top members of law enforcement.

Three of the politicians who crowded in front of the cameras in December had just five years earlier led the effort to defund the Providence Police.

Lt. Governor Sabina Matos, City Council President Rachel Miller, and Councilor John Goncalves were all strong advocates for slashing funding for the Providence Police Department. They called for diverting monies to alternative programs.

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An article in July of 2020 in UpriseRI chronicled the defund the police effort.

In 2020, Miller and then Councilor Kat Kerwin were the first to call for defunding the police budget in Providence. Miller and Kerwin initially advocated for a Minneapolis-style program. In Minneapolis, council members initially called for major funding cuts to the city’s police.

Miller promised to move money away from the police.

Now, Miller tells GoLocal, "At the time, I supported funding social service–based responses for situations that do not require a police response, such as mental health and substance use incidents. The city followed through with an expanded contract with Family Services of RI, and social workers have become an essential part of our public safety response.”

Miller adds, “I also supported the budget goals of then Colonel Clements and now Colonel Perez to address staffing and resource concerns, including funding new academies. I’m not shy about expressing concerns when warranted, and I find Colonel Perez to be a leader who takes those seriously. Last week, I witnessed his leadership firsthand as he sought justice for the victims of the shooting. That diligence was reflected throughout Providence Police, sworn and civilian alike. I’m grateful for their service and for the honest and open relationship I have with PPD leadership.”

 

Matos Criticized for Blocking Funding

Former Providence City Council President and now Lt. Governor Matos was criticized for failing to approve police academies as the staffing declined.

By the early 2000s, under then-Mayor David Cicilline and Police Chief Dean Esserman, the agency was able to secure substantial federal funds under initiatives of the George W. Bush administration. The Department sustained staffing at approximately 500.

But under Mayor Angel Taveras and Jorge Elorza, the staffing plummeted.

Former Providence City Council President John Igliozzi said in August of 2021 that the majority of the council supported trying to keep a sustained staffing level but pointed out that his predecessor Matos and some members of the council opposed new police academy classes.

Matos told Uprise in July of 2020 that she would commit to voting against any budget that does not reallocate funds from the police.

Matos paints a different picture in 2025

Matos said in a text message to GoLocal that she has always, “I have always supported an all-hands-on-deck approach to public safety, including well-funded police operations and investments in social services.”

“I voted to preserve or increase police funding in each of the 10 budgets I participated in as a city councilor. As Council President in 2020, I allocated additional funding for social programs to provide de-escalation services with the GoTeam at FSRI. In addition, I shepherded through a resolution in favor of hiring more police officers in the city,” wrote Matos to GoLocal.

 

Goncalves Reverses Course

Goncalves said in 2020, “I [am] committed to doing that work, to reallocating police funding… towards housing, homelessness, social services, jobs… We’re navigating a very complex political process from a legality perspective; it’s hard to do that.”

“We need to think about addressing the underlying challenges that contribute what we call, ‘so-called’ crime, like poverty and homelessness. These things shouldn’t be criminalized,” said Goncalves in 2020.

Goncalves also committed to “voting against any budget that does not reallocate funds from the police.”

Now, Goncalves tells GoLocal, “As a first-term, new council member, there was a lot I did not yet know. You grow into this job and over the years I have learned a great deal through close collaboration with our police department and have utmost respect for the men and women who put on their uniform. As such, I do not agree with defunding the police and do not support the rhetoric of ‘defunding’ the police.”

Goncalves adds, “I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time and that does not entail defunding the police. They do an important job, and public safety requires both strong law enforcement and smart investments in our city that address some of our city’s root challenges.”

 

The 2020 budget fight highlighted the efforts to cut police spending as GoLocal reported:

In 2020, six members of the Providence City Council, including Matos, called for the defunding of the police and the transfer of dollars to other uses.

Councilors Helen Anthony, John Goncalves, Kat Kerwin, Nirva LaFortune, Rachel Miller and James Taylor voted against this year's budget. 

Anthony, who represents Ward 2 on the East Side announced she was opposing the budget over a $48,500 expenditure targeted to recruit the next academy class. "I will not be voting for this budget — when it was amended at the last finance meeting it was amended to add an additional $48,500 for the recruitment of the next police academy," said Anthony.

"I think that amending the budget to include the additional amount this year, while the amount isn’t really what is the issue, in my mind, it’s more a message that we have not delivered on our word that we would create police reform, some accountability. We’ve been listening to, and it’s been a nationwide discussion, it’s been a city discussion on how we need to reform our police and rather than do anything through the budget, which is what I hoped would be done, we actually added an additional amount, which I think really just says to the people who have been asking for this reform, it says we’re not interested, and that we’re just going to continue doing business as usual. So I cannot support this budget," she added.

Councilman Nick Narducci fired back at Anthony, "I don’t know if anybody’s been watching the news or listening to the news, but I said it earlier — our shootings and our murders in the city of Providence are up 150% — we need more police officers."

"The 50 we’re putting on, the chance are, as we all know you lose a certain percentage, you might make 38 police officers this time around. We’re already in the process of losing like 28 from this year ‘till the next year on retirement. We can’t keep taking from the police department. You heard from the chair…about how many programs we’re setting up, how many programs we’re funding to try and help people that are looking for help," added Narducci.

"Let me just say it this way — if you don’t think we need the police, then you know what, what I don’t really want to say…but when stuff happens in your neighborhood, don’t call them. We need more cops, we don’t need less. We need more ops — they’re the ones keeping our city safe. I am sick and tired of my community meetings that people are saying they’re afraid to go outside their own front door because of the way the shootings are going on. I don’t want the people in my community to live that way," said Narducci.