BREAKING: Pare Says Police Layoffs are Going Forward

BREAKING: Pare Says Police Layoffs are Going Forward

Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare is saying the Providence police union's plan to find $6 million in savings was is unrealistic and the city will move forward with laying off between 60-80 police officers after the police union.

GoLocalProv reported earlier this week that the Fraternal Order of Police had come up with an alternative to the proposed layoffs that would include a combination of retirement incentives and cutbacks to overtime. According to Joe Rodio, chief legal counsel to the union, the layoffs alone would save $4 million.

But Pare maintains that that the police union's suggestion is not reasonable.

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"As has been the case in our negotiations with all unions, cost-saving actions must be structural cuts, not one-time fixes. Furthermore, the fiscal crisis we face is so dire that the City cannot accept any risk that a proposed savings may fail to materialize," Pare said in a statement. "Lastly, no one can be exempt from the sacrifices we need to save Providence from financial collapse. We have made clear in our negotiations that any agreement with the FOP must reflect this reality."

"Thus far, the FOP has not proposed an alternative that meets these criteria. Most notably, recent presentations to the media by union leadership did not acknowledge that the FOP refuses to accept any agreement that does not include a retroactive pay raise for all officers."

Pare said the original FOP originally hoped to get an eight percent raise and that the city is in no position to hand out raises. The union, he says, has not been amendable to the city's approach.

"In the absence of an agreement that meets the criteria we have set forth, we must proceed with the layoff process as discussed," Pare said. "In conjunction with this action, police leadership is finalizing its plan for how policing activities will be managed following the personnel reduction so as to ensure that public safety is not compromised. We do not take this work lightly. We expect to be in a position to share this information with the public next week."