PROVIDENCE – Mayor Brett P. Smiley, elected on a platform centered on quality of life, announced the creation of a Providence Police Department “community response team” dedicated exclusively to investigating the use of illegal street vehicles on city streets.
Calling the initiative a “priority from day one,” Smiley’s message to riders was, “It’s a new day in Providence.”
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Flanked by Providence Police Col. Oscar L. Perez during a press conference at City Hall Wednesday, Smiley said the unit had been planned for months and will start immediately. It will be comprised of a sergeant and four police officers who will conduct “proactive” investigations of unlawful ATV riders, including the identification of ATV storage locations and the use of the dedicated anonymous tip line fielding calls from concerned citizens.
The unit will also utilize existing technology such as public video cameras and will target unlawful sales of ATVs and other recreational vehicles. The administration timed the announcement in part for the arrival of warmer weather, which historically has coincided with spikes in calls and incidents involving unlicensed street vehicles.
Smiley distinguished his strategy from that of former Mayor Jorge O. Elorza, saying the unit and City Hall officials will collaborate with the R.I. Attorney General’s Office and neighboring law enforcement agencies in Cranston, Johnston and North Providence in addition to the R.I. State Police in a preventative “investigative approach” to stop ATVs before they hit the streets.
“The primary motivation is to protect lives and the community,” he said. “These bikes are not street legal, and they were not built for street operation. They are dangerous to riders, and they are dangerous to everyone else on the city’s streets.”
As for the price tag, the five-member unit will be comprised of current officers, Perez said, using resources that may need to be increased depending on the need, and that additional overtime may be required until the department can recruit and hire more members to add to the 419 members now on the force.
The administration is working on a plan for what to do with the potential surplus of ATVs if and when they are confiscated. Possibilities include destroying them or finding a way to auction them off.
Some community members have been critical of previous approaches to deal with the issue that has been on the radar for years. Opponents call the presence of ATVs a danger to motorists, pedestrians, law enforcement and riders alike. The riders themselves and their supporters argue there is no safe place within the city limits for them to go.
Asked if the city is exploring alternative options for ATV riders, such as a public facility, Smiley said that was not a part of the strategy and suggested riders find other areas in off-road rural locations outside of the city.
Perez said the department will not be amending existing policy regarding ATV pursuit by officers, saying only that law enforcement’s response “will depend on the circumstances” of each individual case.
ATVs and other recreational vehicles have been prohibited from city streets since 2015. In 2017, the City Council approved an ordinance authorizing the seizure of illegal vehicles.
After the press conference, Jeremy Costa, spokesman for Bike Life Lives Matter, and a vocal defender of the estimated hundreds of ATV riders in the city, called Smiley’s announcement a continuation of unconstitutional profiling and confiscation of personal property. He said he has a meeting scheduled with Smiley on April 10 to discuss the potential to find a compromise by investing in a safe location for ATV riders.
If not, Costa vowed a lawsuit against the city and the attorney general’s office, as well as the City Council.
“This is unjust criminalization,” he said. “We need to have allocated zones where they can ride.”
As for Smiley’s suggestion that ATV riders relocate to off-road terrain outside of Providence, Costa said that was a nonstarter.
“They enjoy the concrete,” he said.
In a joint statement Wednesday, the Rhode Island American Civil Liberties Union Inc. and Black Lives Matter RI PAC criticized the enforcement initiative and urged the city “to reject intrusive surveillance techniques and the criminalization of conduct that does not belong in the criminal justice system.”
“We know that turning civil traffic offenses into criminal ones in this context will disproportionately affect young people and Black and Brown neighborhoods, have a severely discriminatory impact, and undermine the critical need for greater equity in the criminal justice system,” they wrote.
(Update: Comment from the Rhode Island American Civil Liberties Union Inc. and Black Lives Matter RI PAC added in 18th and 19th paragraphs)
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.
The only thing that will solve this problem is strict law enforcement, impounding vehicles used illegally, and permanent loss of operators’ licenses.