6 Providence Councilors Last Year Advocated to Defund Police - See Where They Stand Now
Monday, May 17, 2021
After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, six members of the Providence City Council went on record calling for the defunding of the Providence Police.
Now, a year later, two of the six members of the council have taken on high-profile positions.
Then-City Council President Sabina Matos is now Rhode Island's Lt. Governor. In 2020, she told UpriseRI she supported the defunding of the police, but now has reversed position.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTNow, Matos’ office said on Sunday, “As Council President, she agreed that there needed to be a specific allocation of funds for social service needs. At the end of her tenure as Council President, she authorized a City Council grant of over $200K to Family Services of Rhode Island for their 'Go Team' initiative embedded in the Providence Police Department.”
Moreover, the office said she no longer supports defunding the police.
In less than a 48 hours period in Providence, there were 11 people shot and another man was murdered. Another murder in Pawtucket, police believe may be tied to one of the Providence shootings.
And in the past year, a Providence Police officer was fired for assaulting a handcuffed Providence man.
Candidate for Mayor
Councilor Nirva LaFortune who is a candidate for Mayor in 2022, who supported defunding the police in 2020, stands by her position and calls for systemic change in policing.
In an email to GoLocal, LaFortune wrote, “I am still and will always be committed to taking proactive approaches to address this systemic issue. That may be reallocating funds to invest in social services to help address harmful conditions faced by marginalized communities. As I stated, I want our approach to be strategic, which is why I am committed to working with our city leaders, the police department, our young people, and the communities most impacted.”
“For almost a year, I've been advocating and working with the administration to design a city-wide crisis response initiative framework. This is not an issue that can be solved overnight; it will take a collective effort and the necessary resources to address the gun violence epidemic in our city,” LaFortune adds.
One of the weekend shootings that took place in the city included LaFortune’s ward on Camp Street, where two men were shot in front of the Billy Taylor Park.
LaFortune recited how gun violence had impacted her personally in a press release sent on Sunday, “Next month will mark sixteen years since my dear friend, my partner, the person I loved in life was cut short by gun violence as he walked out of a bodega in New York City. He was mistakenly struck by a bullet intended for someone standing outside the store. Our lives were changed forever by a needless act of violence.”
Miller and Kerwin
The two councilors who have been most vocal in advocating for defunding the Providence Police have been councilors Rachel Miller and Kat Kerwin.
“I don’t have anything profound to say. I don’t want to politicize this weekend,” said Miller.
In early June of 2020, Kerwin and Miller pushed legislative measures to slash the police department’s budget.
Kerwin tweeted that she stood with the Minneapolis City Council members who were pushing to defund the police department and called for Providence to defund the police department in Providence.
"Today, #Minneapolis announced plans to defund the police+invest in community led intervention. I stand w @lisabendermpls @jeremiah4north @CunninghamMPLS @FletcherMpls @MplsWard9 @annapoetic @CameronAGordon @jeremyschroeder @CMAndrewJohnson. Providence, let’s make it happen," tweeted Kerwin at the time.
Kerwin did not respond to calls.
East Siders
Councilmember John Goncalves who represents Fox Point and College Hill (Ward 1) said in an interview 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.”
Goncalves did not return calls regarding his position today.
And, Councilor Helen Anthony who represents Blackstone neighborhood (Ward 2) went on record in 2020, saying, “I am very supportive of reallocation of some of the police funds.”
Anthony refused to respond to questions.
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