EDITORIAL: Smiley’s Anti-Crime Strategy Is Getting Riddled With Bullets
Thursday, July 06, 2023
Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning in Providence was a shooting range.
One 28-year-old man is dead, and three others were wounded in separate shootings, including a 15-year-old girl.
Four separate shootings across the city over one night.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIn addition, Providence Police were outnumbered at a number of large-scale gatherings, including "pop-ups" with hundreds of people and an annual block party that in 2022 had seen several officers injured.
State and Cranston Police had to be called in to assist. The understaffed Providence Police simply did not have enough officers to investigate the shootings and deal with the massive crowds.
Forget dealing with any other crimes.
One of the events had upward of 300 to 400 people, say police.
Another separate event had hundreds more.
Today, Providence Police staffing is just above 400 — a new near-record low in the modern policing era.
The Mayor’s response is to…ah, let’s see. Crush some ATVs, maybe.
Mayor Brett Smiley is yet to announce a macro crime strategy or a micro strategy. Right now the Providence strategy is "thoughts and prayers."
Smiley functionally became Mayor in September after winning the Democratic primary, as he faced no opposition in the general election.
He had a rare opportunity to build his team and his agenda.
He was officially sworn in on January 2 and has been sitting in the Mayor’s office for more than six full months.
There have been no studies. No naming of a commission. No nothing.
GoLocal’s editorial position has been to give the new mayor every opportunity to establish himself and set a new direction for City Hall from his predecessor Jorge Elorza, but this is becoming harder and harder.
Smiley retained and recruited a substantial number of high-placed Elorza staffers to City Hall, keeping them in their existing positions and refusing to bring in a cadre of new leaders.
After all, Smiley himself was a former Elorza staffer.
Instead of recruiting experienced top-tier experts from outside of city government, he went with the same old, same old, and low and behold; we are getting the same old outcomes.
The honeymoon is over. The body count is mounting. The police are overwhelmed. The hospital bills are mounting.
The city doesn’t feel safe — for bikers and pedestrians, it is a near-death experience at nearly every turn.
State Senator Meghan Kallman tweeted just over two weeks ago, "Another day, another totally unnecessary brush with death on my bike in downtown @CityofProv."
It is time to get to work on a strategy that creates a great public safety department — one that is fully staffed, expertly trained, and ready to create a safe city.
We don’t need an Elorza 2.0. Providence needs to take advantage of its opportunities to create a new vision for the city where streets in every neighborhood across the entire city are safe.
A city where public safety officers are inspired, trained, and excited about their service rather than exhausted, demoralized, and overburdened.
A city where the public feels safe in every neighborhood in the city.
It is time to lead.
Editor's Note: An earlier version identified Kallman as a Representative. She is a Senator.
An editorial is the opinion of a publication — specifically, the ownership.
While based on facts and news reporting, it is an opinion intended to discuss critical community issues. Often, the opinion is written with the intention of positive change.
GoLocal editorials have sparked conversations, change, and even the naming of a bridge.
LEARN MORE HERERelated Articles
- EDITORIAL: Adrian Hall Was the Father of Modern Providence
- EDITORIAL: Pryor’s Appointment Is Critical to Solving RI’s Housing Crisis
- EDITORIAL: The Predictable Brown University Hustle to Avoid Paying Providence Is On
- EDITORIAL: Speaker Shekarchi Is So Good to Us; He Is Finally Going to Let Us Watch Him Spend $50M
- EDITORIAL: Neronha and RIDEM’s Environmental Protection Is Failing
- EDITORIAL: Let’s Use the “America’s Got Talent” Format to Pick a Police Chief
- EDITORIAL: Dirty RIDOT — Time for Alviti to Go (PUBLISHED 1 YEAR AGO TODAY)
- EDITORIAL: Why Aren’t We Protecting Children and Teachers?
- EDITORIAL: Departure of Police Chief Clements Is a Big Loss for City
- EDITORIAL: Big Liar, Little Hider
- EDITORIAL: McKee Has a Mandate
- EDITORIAL: Why All of RI Should Love This RIC Women’s Basketball Team
- EDITORIAL: Smiley and Perez Face Major Test: Controlling Illegal ATVs
- EDITORIAL: Here Is One for the Veto Pile
- EDITORIAL: It’s Fun in Regunworld
- EDITORIAL: PVDFest Never Became What Was Promised - It Could Be So Much More
- EDITORIAL: You Can Pollute and Lie, and You Won’t Go to Jail in RI
- EDITORIAL: Tow Them — to a Special Place
- EDITORIAL: David v. Big Tech, and David Quit
- EDITORIAL: 36 Hours in RI—3 Dead and 3 Wounded by Guns
- EDITORIAL: Opt-Out of Prov’s New Electricity Program or Support DeSantis’ Corp. Friends
- EDITORIAL: Marvin Abney Is a Throwback Candidate for Congress
- EDITORIAL: Papitto’s Poorly Timed Multi-Million Dollar Gift to Bishop Tobin
- EDITORIAL: The Brilliant and Tragic Life of Dan Doyle
