Dozens gather outside Providence Public Safety Building to protest police harassment of those forced to live outside

“We’re here because the harassment hasn’t stopped,” said Pastor Kevin Simon of Mathewson Street Church. “It’s happening across the City. We’re here because it’s happening every day."

Denied entry to the public lobby of the Providence Public Safety Building by officers of the Providence Police Department, members of the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project (RIHAP) and their supporters chanted, “Housing, not Handcuffs!” and “Stop Police Harassment!” RIHAP is a group fighting for housing justice while centering the voices of people with lived experience, and they were there to protest the illegal harassment of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness.

Here’s the video:

Providence police officers have been relentlessly harassing people experiencing homelessness all over the City (and even into neighboring towns). Many of these incidents have occurred outside Mathewson Street Church, one of the few havens for people experiencing homelessness in Providence and the headquarters of RIHAP. In addition, the Administration of Providence Mayor Brett Smiley continues to conduct police raids of homeless encampments, often with little notice.

Colonel Oscar Perez, the Chief of the Providence Police, was not in his office when the crowd arrived. It took over twenty minutes for Major Roger Aspinall to step outside and listen to the concerns of the people outside, but he suggested that protest was not the way forward and encouraged people to bring their complaints and evidence to the police Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) and to the Providence External Review Authority (PERA). Both agencies are time-consuming, slow to reach decisions (if they ever do), and have little to do with systemic issues.

Kevin Simon

Kevin Simon, a Pastor at Mathewson Street Church, provided the following stories of police harassment. Mathewson Street Church provides shelter, meals, and services to hundreds of people experiencing homelessness in Providence every week - if not every day. These incidents were read to Major Aspinall and other officers outside the station:

“The first incident happened probably 6 months ago. A few of our friends were standing in front of the church, simply having a conversation. One police officer pulled up, got out of his vehicle, and told them they couldn’t stand on the sidewalk. Paraphrasing the officer’s words, it was starting to say that he was tired of dealing with our friends and would clean it up. He was unaware of who I was, and I responded by saying that kind of treatment was not okay. We went back and forth for a minute or so. It was far from a civil conversation. I did not get a badge number, but I would certainly recognize him.

“The second incident was probably 5 months ago. It was a similar situation, except that our friends were on the opposite side of the street from the church, just sitting on the sidewalk. They had all of their belongings with them, and the police officer got out of his vehicle and said that they had to leave. They were blocking the sidewalk and were not allowed to be on any city sidewalk. I tried to explain to him that the shelters were full and that there was no other place to go, but he had no interest in hearing any of it. We had a pretty heated exchange for a few minutes but came to somewhat of an understanding by the end of the conversation. The conduct was certainly crossing a line. Yelling and using language that was certainly not appropriate if you are in a job to protect and serve.

“The third incident occurred on January 15, 2025, at 5:50 a.m. I was able to locate camera footage from our cameras last night. It occurred right outside of our doors. The officers were making the usual early morning rounds of waking our friends for no reason. There is no audio on the camera footage, but you can see two officers walking up to our friend and starting to shine a flashlight on his face. They are directing the light in a manner that tells him that he has to leave the doorway. Our friend refuses to leave. From my conversation with him, he explained to them that it’s private property and he doesn’t have to leave. After about a five-minute exchange, you see one officer put on latex gloves, and he proceeds to reach into our friend’s sleeping bag. At this point, our friend feels incredibly threatened and is seen packing up his belongings and leaving the front of the building. The police officers disperse immediately after. I could not see badge numbers on the footage.

“The most recent occurred on February 12 at approximately 2 pm. I was told that there was a police car circling the neighborhood a few times. I walked outside to witness a police car coming down Mathewson Street. They pulled up in front of the church and stopped their vehicle directly across from our front doors on the opposite side of the street. Iwo officers got out of the vehicle. I had not seen them before. They started searching a gentleman who was simply standing on the sidewalk. Again, the language and the conduct crossed a serious line. Our friends started to call out the officers, justifiably so, saying there was no reason for the search and it was blatant harassment. They used expletives directed at our friends as they got back into their vehicle and departed.

“We were open as an overnight shelter for a few nights during the week of January 5- 11. On the morning of January 9, at approximately 6:30, I heard a horn and walked to the front door. Through the window, I saw a police car shining the floodlights on the street, clearly trying to disturb anyone who might be sleeping on the street. As they passed our front door, they again blared a horn. According to our friends this is a regular occurrence in the downtown area in the mornings.”

The police, said advocates, are illegally harassing people experiencing homelessness. The Homeless Bill of Rights (RI General Laws § 34-37.1-3), passed by the Rhode Island General Assembly and signed into law by the Governor in 2012, states that individuals, without regard to housing status, have the same rights to use and move freely in public spaces, the right to expect the privacy of their personal property, and the right to equal treatment by all State and municipal agencies.

“We’re here because the harassment hasn’t stopped,” said Pastor Simon. “Police cars are still coming down our street every day. And though this is specific to our church, it’s happening across the City. We’re here because it’s happening every day!”

RIHAP’s Eric Hirsch spoke to the press:

“Everyone here is sick and tired of the police treating homeless people on the street like they’re trash - like they just need to move. People are homeless because they can’t afford rent, and if they can’t find someone to double up with, they wind up on the street. The shelters are full, and that has forced them outside. The latest estimate we have is that there are 673 people living outside. What the police have been doing is against the law. It’s against the Homeless Bill of Rights, which says you can’t treat people differently because they’re unhoused. They have the same right to privacy. They have the same right to use public spaces. They have the same right to not have their possessions searched.

“We’re especially upset that the police have come to our headquarters, which is Matthewson Street Church, in the middle of the night, sounding their horns, spotlighting people on the street, trying to wake them up, and telling them they can’t be there.

“What’s the alternative? Where do they expect people to go? And this comes after multiple police raids on homeless encampments - sometimes with almost no notice - where people have nowhere to go. The Mayor often says, ‘We have agencies here that are helping people find shelter and housing.’ That’s untrue. The shelters are full. Nobody’s getting put in housing

“So, we want this harassment to stop. It’s illegal. The police should not be engaged in illegal behavior, and the harassment of people who are unhoused on the street is illegal, according to the Homeless Bill of Rights.

“We want the police to order police officers to stop harassing people on the street, and they didn’t say they would do that. They said, ‘Go through these various appeal processes,’ which have never worked, which never actually result in any important solutions. They need to order the police to respect people and understand that they have to be on the street. They have no other choice. They need to suspend or dismiss those officers who have harassed people. They say it’s against policy, so they should be fired or suspended. That’s what we’d like to see.”

The Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project and its allies, including Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere (HOPE), the Rhode Island Poor People’s Campaign, Better Lives Rhode Island (BLRI), and the Mathewson Church Housing Justice Committee called on Colonel Oscar Perez, Chief of Police, and Providence Mayor Brett Smiley to:

1. Order Providence Police officers to stop the harassment of those experiencing unsheltered homelessness in the City.

2. Provide immediate training on RI General Law § 34-37.1-3, the Homeless Bill of Rights, to all officers in the Providence Police Department.

3. Suspend or terminate those officers who have harassed unsheltered individuals in the past or who do so in the future.

4. Stop all police raids on homeless encampments until the City offers shelter or housing alternatives acceptable to residents of those encampments.

5. Provide additional sites for Pallet Shelters or equivalent villages in the City while permanent housing is under construction.