EDITORIAL: Smiley’s Crime Strategy Is to Try and Hide It
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL: Smiley’s Crime Strategy Is to Try and Hide It
Their strategy has been to try to hide the violence and hope the victims keep quiet. They have not provided the public or the media with crime information in recent months and, on a number of occasions, have intentionally misled the media about crime in the city.
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But, a GoLocal Access to Public Records Act request unveils that the crime during the first 23 days of July was non-stop, often vicious, and left a number of victims injured and damaged.
GoLocal only sought data on three types of crimes: assaults, shootings, and sexual assaults. GoLocal did not seek property crimes or robberies — no home break-ins, cars stolen, vandalism, etc.
GoLocal selected a random time period. Despite having covered hundreds if not thousands of crime stories in the city of Providence, we were shocked at the extent of the violence.
The ten shootings took place across the city. There is a perception that the affluent East Side is immune to the gunfire, but during this time period, there were reports of shootings at two different East Side locations just days apart.
When officials point to homicide numbers as a measure, they discount the fact that shootings are in fact the key indicator — as any shooting could have unfortunately been a homicide.
Then there were the assaults. The combination of simple and felony assaults totaled 119 in just 23 days — more than five a day.
The sexual assault number was 18 in just three weeks and two days — statistically, just under 6 per week.
And then there is Kennedy Plaza.
It is no longer a transportation hub; it is the single most violent area in the city of Providence. There is no need to bring in Sherlock Holmes or Chief William Bratton to figure out that Kennedy Plaza is the hub of crime. City of Providence records show that in just 23 days, there were 11 assaults.
Smiley and Perez are no longer newbies trying to feel their way around public safety, but the reality is that if that is their strategy, if there is a strategy, is has failed. And, their effort to hide the level of crime from the media and the public is unmatched.
When caught, the most pathetic aspect of their justification is to selectively pull individual crime data points to say the city is safe, rather than a strategy and an empathy to reduce crime and crime victims.
Perez refused to answer questions prior to the publication of the data on Monday, but the next day, this office claimed that the number of murders was down this year.
This is not good news. Zero murders would be great news.
On Monday, GoLocal reported that there had been violence at the Dominican Festival on Sunday night, and five had been arrested. There were emerging claims of police abuse, and then Perez held a press conference to defend his Department.
This administration consistently fails to understand that those who suffered violence in these 23 days in July will profoundly be changed. The 18 who were the victims of sexual assaults will never live life the same way again.
The 119 victims of assault will not care one way or another if “during the same time period in 2023,” the number of victims was higher or lower.
Providence has so many wonderful attributes and so much to celebrate, but the failed crime-fighting strategy and the complete lack of empathy is an ugly mark on the Smiley - Perez administration. It is a failure.