Rec Director Expected to be New "Community Relations & Diversion Services" Providence Police Major

Rec Director Expected to be New "Community Relations & Diversion Services" Providence Police Major

GoLocal has learned from multiple sources that Providence Recreation Director Mike Stephens is expected to be named to the city’s newly created "Community Relations and Diversion Services" Major position in the Providence Police Department. 

Stephens, a top-level college men’s basketball referee, was named the city’s rec director by Providence Major Jorge Elorza in April 2015. 

About New Position

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As GoLocal was first to report this past January,  Elorza and Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare were planning to announce the creation of a new Major position.

As GoLocal wrote on January 22:

An email circulating from the City Council office stated that an announcement is scheduled for Friday afternoon regarding the new position, which will be tasked with overseeing the department's community relations/engagement division.  

According to multiple sources, the position is intended to be filled by a minority candidate -- from either inside the department or outside.

The new position was officially announced the following week, making it the fifth Major in the command staff. 

According to the city's release, the Community Relations and Diversion Services Major will “report directly to the Chief of Police and will supervise the Training Bureau and Training Academy as well as the promotional process and testing acquisition for the supervisory ranks of Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Captain. They will also be responsible for the recruitment, selection, retention, training of all future recruits.”

About Stephens

In May 2015, GoLocal reported upon taking the city rec director position, that Stephens would not be giving up his outside $180,000 year job with the NCAA — that he would be simultaneously serving as head of a city department that oversees day — and evening — youth programming, all while traveling around the country for his refereeing job. 

Stephens' expected appointment to the newly created Major position — which had a search committee interview numerous candidates — comes as the city has witnessed 35 murders in the past 15 months — and the Providence police union has called for the firing of Public Safety Commissioner Pare. 

Stephens, who has coached youth sports in Providence and was the recipient of the Key to the City from Elorza, has no law enforcement experience and has not been through the police academy.

This past July, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference announced that Stephens would be serving as the league’s Coordinator of Men’s Basketball Officials.

“I am looking forward to a long-term relationship between the MAAC and myself,” said Stephens, according to Trentonian.com.

Community leaders have been calling for a new Black Major in the police department for years. 

"Like the crime numbers, we need to deal with this perception, which dovetails for the police to reflect the look of the community," Providence NAACP Branch President Jim Vincent told GoLocal in September 2015. "When the community sees that there's more trust, the police can solve more crime.