PROVIDENCE – After a year marred by at least one memorable incident of violent riots and looting, downtown’s image has taken a hit, with anecdotal observations suggesting people feel it is not as safe as it used to be.
But the numbers tell a different story. Nearly every category of crime dropped dramatically in 2020, according to Providence Police Department 2020 year-end statistics. In Police District 1, which spans most of downtown, arrests fell by 64% from 2019 to 2020, according to records released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by Providence Business News. The 234 downtown arrests in 2020 includes the 46 people arrested in conjunction with violent riots, looting and damage on the night of June 2.
Even calls to police dropped more than a third year-over-year, records show.
Providence Police Chief Hugh T. Clements chalked up much of the decrease to the pandemic, which has emptied downtown of the usual crowds of office workers, shoppers, diners and theater-goers who would otherwise frequent its streets. Fewer people means fewer opportunities to cause trouble, he said.
But while 2020 may be somewhat of an aberration, in Clements’ words, statistics also show a longer-term trend of crime declining across the city and downtown.
Homicides in Providence, which increased from 14 in 2019 to 18 in 2020, were previously on a decline, having not risen above 15 since 2014, and not risen above 20 since 2009, according to police records. Violent crime, which encompasses homicides, sexual offenses, robbery and aggravated assault, declined 7% from 2016 to 2019, reflecting a pre-COVID trend.
Burglary across the city was nearly cut by more than one-third from 2016 to 2019, with total property crime, which also includes larceny and motor vehicle theft, declining more than 7% in that same time frame.
The Providence Place mall, long-labeled a trouble spot in downtown, has also seen a drop in both arrests and calls for service, despite the fatal stabbing that took place in the third-floor food court in 2020.
Community policing – in which law enforcement partners with other downtown groups and social service agencies and establishes relationships with local residents and business owners – has played a major role in longer-term declines in crime across the city, Clements said.
But as Mayor Jorge O. Elorza told PBN, when it comes to crime, “perception is reality.”
And perception has been inflamed: by images of crowds torching a police cruiser outside the mall during the June 2 riots; by a wave of summer protests that, while mostly peaceful, included moments of tension between activists and law enforcement; and by social media-induced scares such as the Providence Purge flyer that caused some downtown property owners to board up their storefronts despite police assurances that the rumored event was simply a prank.
Several downtown business owners told PBN their businesses suffered even more as a result of safety – both incidents and perceptions drawn from those events. The outdoor dining and patio spaces at Providence Coal Fired Pizza and Union Station Brewery were noticeably emptier after the June riots, co-owner David Bertolini said.
Freeplay Bar Arcade owner E. Anthony Santurri estimated a 50% drop in customers Halloween weekend after Providence Purge flyer advertising a non-peaceful protest gained attention.
Whether downtown can rewrite its story around safety – and who is responsible for doing it – depends who you ask. But with vaccinations ramping up and warmer weather approaching, whether remaining safety concerns will hamper efforts to lure crowds back downtown will soon become clear.
“The true test will be whenever the post-COVID world comes back,” Neil Steinberg, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation, said. “We have to have draws, and right now, with so much still closed, we don’t have a lot of draws.”
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.
