Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence

My City: On the Streets of Providence

From the Providence City News, newsletter of Mayor David N. Cicilline:
Includes interviews with Streetworker Ajay Benton and Director Teny Gross...

My City: On the Streets of Providence

In Providence, memorializing Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr.’s work doesn’t start nor end during the national holiday named after him in January. In fact, it happens ‘round the clock, three hundred sixty five days, year after year. In South Providence, where the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence is based, Dr. King’s work lives on day in and day out.

In 2001, as the nation reckoned with a violent act of terrorism, the Institute and its partners took the first step in fighting for peace in their own neighborhoods. Director Teny Gross joined forces with some of the local community’s anti-crime/anti-violence crusaders like Ajay Benton, one of the Institute’s first hired “streetworkers”.

Garnering unwavering support from Mayor David Cicilline, Police Chief Dean Esserman, and the community at-large, today the Streetworker Program is proud to be a part of the solution in addressing the problems of crime and violence neighborhood by neighborhood.

Mayor's press release - Mayor, Police Chief & community leaders celebrate four years of community policing

Date: January 23rd, 2007   For Immediate Release
Contact:    Karen Southern, Press Secretary (401) 421-2489 x 752  ksouthern@providenceri.com

PRESS RELEASE    (Webmaster's note: emphasis below added by Nonviolence Institute)

MAYOR, POLICE CHIEF & COMMUNITY LEADERS CELEBRATE FOUR YEARS OF COMMUNITY POLICING

Strong community partnership and solid police work result in lowest four-year crime reduction in decades

PROVIDENCE – Surrounded by a broad range of community leaders and Providence Police officers, Mayor David N. Cicilline and Colonel Dean M. Esserman today publicly thanked the men and women of the Providence Police Department and the community for their strong partnership in helping to create safer neighborhoods. 

“Our community leaders, understanding that no police department could accomplish this work alone, became full partners in our efforts to reduce crime in our neighborhoods, and for that I am deeply grateful,” said Mayor Cicilline.  “As cities throughout the country struggle with increased levels of crime, it is critically important that we recommit ourselves to working harder than ever to keep our community safe.”

"I salute the rank and file of the Providence Police Department.  Our officers have shown that they make a difference in the safety of our community.  They deserve our gratitude and our respect, and are justly referred to as Providence's Finest".

Violent crime falls sharply in Providence

Violent crime falls sharply in Providence
01:00 AM EST on Sunday, January 21, 2007
By Gregory Smith

Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — With a crew of streetworkers calming gang feuds and a gun task force invading criminal haunts, the frequency of murder has fallen to a historic low in Rhode Island’s capital city.

The number of slayings fell by half last year and violent crime overall declined sharply, Police Chief Dean M. Esserman said, as improved law enforcement strategy and tactics such as the streetworkers and gun task force had a cumulative effect.

While 22 people were killed in 2005, that fell to 11 in 2006, which Esserman said last week is the fewest in 31 years.

Providence Journal: School officials call in nonviolence professionals

School officials call in nonviolence professionals
01:00 AM EST on Friday, January 19, 2007
By Kia Hall Hayes

Journal Staff Writer
WOONSOCKET — School officials are enlisting the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence to help address what Schools Supt. Maureen B. Macera called “systemic” problems facing the city’s youth.

In a meeting with the Providence-based grass-roots group yesterday, school and police officials said combative speech and provocative dress, coupled with a youth culture that values acting tough and parents who reinforce those messages, have left them at a disadvantage.