NBC 10 I-Team: Providence sees summer surge in violent crime
by TAMARA SACHARCZYK, NBC 10 NEWS
(WJAR) — On the heels of five homicides in just under five weeks, the NBC 10 I-Team took a closer look at crime in the city of Providence.
While violent crime dipped in September, data shows overall crime jumped month-over-month in August, increasing 11%.
Providence police investigated 42 aggravated assaults, 156 simple assaults, and 7 incidents of shots fired or shootings in August.
“It sounds high, there’s a story behind each and every one of those,” Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said. “We know that these are, by in large, isolated incidents or incidents between parties known to one another.”
In a single day, Providence police responded to 14 assaults.
A photo of a crime scene in Providence in August 2024. (WJAR)
A closer look at the police reports shows most of the assaults were targeted, simple assaults, which means nobody was seriously injured.
In one case, a man allegedly put his hands around the neck of a co-worker at a Sunoco after getting into an argument over taking out the trash.
A Butler Hospital employee called police after he was assaulted by a patient who allegedly kicked and spit on him.
A Burger King employee allegedly threw a pot at another employee on the job, but nobody was hurt.
However, two of the more serious assaults we looked at happened during the day in public.
One man was reportedly stabbed just after 6 p.m. on Hartford Avenue following an argument that turned physical.
Two hours earlier, a man told police he was stabbed in the stomach on a sidewalk in front of a church on North Main Street.
PUBLIC SAFETY CONCERNS
Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez says public assaults can create a public safety concern, even if they’re targeted, which is why police monitor the data.
“Unfortunately, we get the data sometimes that we have certain spots in the city, certain places in the city, that we need to concentrate on,” Perez said.
That includes Kennedy Plaza, where police have upped patrols to curb crime.
That effort recently led to the arrest of 20 drug dealers, following a lengthy investigation that spanned months.
Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez says public assaults can create a public safety concern, even if they’re targeted, which is why police monitor the data. (WJAR)
“Unfortunately, we suffer from violent crime, it’s nationwide,” Perez said.
Perez pointed out that while August numbers weren’t ideal, crime is trending down year over year.
Data shows that pattern has remained steady over the past five years.
“When we look at violent crime year-to-date, it’s down 16%, violent crime when a firearm was used is also down 15%,” Perez said.
The homicide rate is down 27%, although that will likely change following the city’s tenth homicide of the year on Sept. 25.
Sex offenses are down 19%.
Police have also seized 245 guns in 2024.
p Police have also seized 245 guns in 2024. (WJAR) /p
“Every single gun that we’ve seized saved a life,” Perez said. “Every search warrant that the detectives in narcotics have done you never know what kind of life we saved because we seized guns, put criminals in jail.”
When asked whether he’s satisfied with the current rate of violent crime in Providence, Perez responded, “I think it’s a success when we look at all the years past and the fact we’re still trending down.”
However, not all members of the public agree.
PUBLIC OPINION
Providence resident Belinda Almedia says she doesn’t feel enough is being done to keep the city safe.
“With the shootings and everything that’s going on, it’s too much,” she said. “I don’t come down here at night. I used to, but times have changed now,”Almedia said.
David Verry, who takes the bus from Kennedy Plaza to get to work, shared a similar sentiment.
“I don’t think it’s safe overall. There’s a lot of fights, stabbings, drug dealings down here,” he said.
Residents have also emailed into the NBC 10 I-Team, concerned the crime data posted by Providence Police Department doesn’t give them enough information about violence happening in the city.
Providence Police Department is one of the only departments in Rhode Island to make crime data readily available to the public online, but the website doesn’t provide detailed information on each incident.
Stabbings, for example, show up as aggravated assaults.
If shots are fired on your street, you would have to file a public records request to find out whether police found any evidence of shots fired or it was a false alarm.
Smiley doesn’t believe providing that type of information is necessary.
“Communicating with a press release every time there’s been a stabbing victim doesn’t make the community feel safer,” he said. “We are not hiding anything.”
Press releases are sent if a homicide occurs or if police believe there’s a danger to the public.
When asked if the city is transparent enough, Smiley responded, “I believe we are. We share every available piece of information, the only time we might withhold information is if we are in an active investigation and we think that sharing details would make it harder for us to bring justice to a victim.”
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said he believes the city is being transparent enough about crime in the city. (WJAR)
POLICE RECRUITMENT
Providence police are actively working to recruit more officers, but it’s been a challenge.
In 2023, the department lost 35 officers to retirements alone. In 2022, they lost 28 officers.
“We lose between 20 and 30 officers a year based on retirement, and people just resign,” Perez said.
The department currently has 449 officers but is authorized to have about 494.
Providence Police recently announced it’s recruiting for its 73rd training academy to try and get to full staff.
In the meantime, Smiley says they will continue to analyze data, put officers at crime hotspots, and work to lower the overall crime rate.
“We know that all cities have violent crime, but there’s no level of violent crime that’s tolerable or acceptable to us, so we continue every year to try and drive those numbers down,” Smiley said.
In September, Providence Police investigated 152 simple assaults and 21 aggravated assaults in the city, a decrease from August’s numbers.