Recent Violence in Providence Raises New Safety Questions

Wednesday, October 01, 2014

GoLocalProv News Team and Kate Nagle

Recent shootings in Providence related to gang violence in the Mt. Hope neighborhood on the East Side over the weekend, and a shoot-out that lead to a lock down at Asa Messer elementary school on Tuesday, have led to questions about how crimes are being accounted for - and counted -- in the Providence community.  

Providence Public Safety Commission Steven Pare refused to answer questions pertaining to the violence on Tuesday.

Facebook and social media were filled with Providence residents commenting about the violence, and questioning whether crime is actually down over previous years, as reported.  

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"Why are they saying crime is down in this area?  I don't believe it, and no one who lives here does," said Kobi Dennis, community activist and founder of Night Vision.  

"I would like to know what they consider violent crime when reporting," continued Dennis.  "They say crime is down?  Talk to folks in these neighborhoods.  There are shootings two to three times a week.  I think it's not being reported.  I want a breakdown of violent crimes."   

The renewed call for action comes less than three months after gang warfare broke out between Mt. Hope and Chad Brown in July.  

Questioning Numbers and Reporting

"I found out about the four shootings [from the weekend] from a friend's Facebook page," said East Side resident Hollybeth Runco, of the lack of public information available from the city.  "There was almost nothing on-line. This pattern of suppressing crime news and statistics is creating a dangerous environment for residents. What about all the families walking to the neighborhood Martin Luther King Elementary School and YMCA?"

"Crime is absolutely under-reported by police and residents. With an inadequate amount of police and daily break-in attempts on our homes and vehicles, what are our real options? The upcoming election is pivotal. This must change," continued Runco. "The next mayor needs to let facts and figures--not divisive attitudes--determine which neighborhoods need social services.  They need to break the cycle of poverty in every neighborhood."

City Council candidate and Cranston police officer Michael Long, who is a Republican running against incumbent Seth Yurdin in District 1 said Tuesday that he believed that crime was being under reported in Providence.  

"I think we can't rely on stats.  For starters, they don't show feelings that the community develops when we have serious crimes likes shootings and drive-bys," said Long.  "Even though numbers might show crime is down, the psychological effects on a community are devastating."

"Reacting to crime after the fact isn't going to deter future ones -- we need community partnerships, and we need to work with anyone with ears to the ground," Long continued.  

Debate has arisen, however, as to where the already strapped police forces' efforts are needed.  On Monday, State Senator Paul Jabour called for mandatory foot patrols on Federal Hill following another violent weekend during which two men were stabbed outside an Atwells Avenue club 

Dennis said he "didn't know that [the City] was thinking," in choosing winners and losers in terms of which neighborhoods to send the already understaffed police department.  

"I don't know what they're thinking -- are we valuing life due to a tax bracket?" quipped Dennis.  "This isn't a case of race, but more financial standing.  Is Federal Hill more valued than our other city streets?"

Information + Access

In addition to demanding accurate crime reporting information, members of the community spoke to the need for "real-time" information to be shared.

"What they're failing to realize is that communities are waking up -- we're tired of being cut out of programming, strategies that are being developed that we're not at the table," said community activist Carolyn Thomas-Davis. "Social media allows some of us who had these conversations with just family and neighbors before, we're able to put our thoughts out there for the world to see -- and hold people accountable. 

"We're collecting information real time, and we expect to be informed of what's going on real time as well," said Davies.  "I don't need to see on the five o'clock news that a shooting happened earlier today.  The police is required by law to make sure the public is given the information that is necessary for safety."

"What are the best practices?  What is Chicago doing, New York doing -- we've been doing things the same way for so long, it's as though we're not interested in making things better.  We're behind in a number of things," said Davies.  "Would setting something up be expensive in start up costs?  Probably.  But how can we afford not to?"

Dennis noted that on Tuesday, parents at Asa Messer were informed the school was on lockdown following the active shooters in the area, but that he hadn't heard more on the matter. 

Currently, the Worcester Police Department in Massachusetts provides a crime blotter on its Facebook page. Providence, which has a comparable but slightly smaller population, does not.  

Steve Brown with the Rhode Island ACLU said that increasing the immediacy of information would inherently require safeguards.  

'We're still in the early stages of seeing the use of social media for best practices," said Brown.  "It's about protecting individuals but making sure that inaccurate info doesn't get out of control.  It can create unnecessary fear and confusion.  I don't have the answer but it certainly require further investigation.   The one that comes to mind was the Boston Marathon bombing, with the mis-ID of those who were supposedly suspect -- social media can be helpful, but it can be harmful."

Jim Vincent with the Providence Branch of the NAACP said he would support an effort to increase crime information being shared with the community directly from the police department. 

"I'd like to be part of an effort to keep the community safer," said Vincent.  "You saw what happened in Ferguson -- if information is held back, as the officer's name was in that instance -- there was heightened anxiety from the community by not knowing.  People need to have confidence of what's going on at that moment."

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