Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements told Providence City Councilors Tuesday that the number of officers in the city was “critically” low.
Clements was among four people invited to speak before the City Council Tuesday night, during a special meeting convened to address the recent spate of violence in the city. The others were Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré, Nonviolence Institute Head Cedric Huntley, and Michael Imondi, head of the city’s police union.
Clements suggested funding three new police academies in the near future. He said that the city should have approximately 450 officers. Because of attrition, military , sick, and other leaves, there are currently less than 400 available currently.
“That’s hurt us significantly,” Clements said. “It really has. You will lose the ability to provide some of the community policing that is essential.”
Since Saturday, Providence police have investigated a stabbing, a shooting in which three people sustained non-life threatening injuries, and a double homicide outside a club. No arrests have been made so far related to the incidents. Earlier this month, a young woman was killed standing on the street, in a drive-by shooting.
“We should be directing our resources to what the problems are at the moment of the community,” Clements said. “And quite simply, we haven’t had the resources to do that. We’ve done well…crime is going significantly down. And we’re experiencing a really bad moment in this police department.”
Violent incidents decreased over the last several years, according to Clements and Providence police data. But law enforcement leaders say shootings and other crimes ticked back up this year in part due to a proliferation of guns on the streets.
“We’ve seized, this year, with an arrest warrant, 143 firearms,” Clements said. In the same time period last year, he said, city police had seized 43 guns.
The call for more police comes amid ongoing debate over police reform, with some activists calling for the opposite–the defunding of police in favor of behavioral health and other services. Earlier this summer, Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza announced plans to increase behavioral health professionals dispatched to emergency calls.
Several councilors weighed in on the ongoing debate over policing budgets and reform, including reiterating past stances.
“I think I was very clear with my colleagues about how uncomfortable I was with the term ‘defund the police’ and what did that really mean,” Councilor Mary Kay Harris said. But she also voiced concern about the use of state police to help law enforcement in city neighborhoods.
Councilor Nirva LaFortune called for a more comprehensive approach to the matter.
“[Gun violence] is not an issue that can be resolved with policing,” LaFortune said. “If we’re going to spend our tax dollars, we also have to think about a comprehensive strategic approach. That includes public safety, the police department, but that also includes community resources.”
Several city councilors also pressed the law enforcement leaders for clearer steps to remove illegal dirt bikes and ATVs from city streets and neighborhoods.
“We seem to be vexed on this criminal crew of the ATV riders, and not able to put a true concrete plan on how to address it.” Council President John Igliozzi.
