Oped: On Friday morning Providence Mayor Brett Smiley looked me in the eye and lied...
I detailed my efforts to get Providence Mayor Brett Smiley to answer questions about two Providence Narcotics Detectives harassing and violating the civil rights of unhoused people living in a tent encampment.
These two as yet unidentified officers, with guns and badges, entered the encampment, forced people out of their homes, ran their names for warrants, searched private property without permission, and repeatedly asked them for drugs. One officer damaged one of the tents by enlarging a small hole by kicking it with his foot. When asked if they had a warrant to search their tents, one of the Detectives said, “We don't need a warrant. You live in a tent.”
Every bit of this egregious behavior by these officers is illegal under state law. Mayor Smiley has decided to defend their actions.
Here's the conversation I had with Mayor Smiley on Friday morning when I caught up with him as he left an unrelated event. [See here for the complete conversation]:
Steve Ahlquist: Are we going to get a chance to have a discussion anytime soon? Because I've asked Patricia about this and she said she’s going to put me on a schedule but nothing has happened with that.
Mayor Brett Smiley: Okay. I'll find out where you're on the schedule. I understand you've been sending questions in, we've been giving you answers.
Steve Ahlquist: I've been getting no answers.
Mayor Brett Smiley: No, you've been getting answers you just don't like.
Steve Ahlquist: No, I've sent in more than 10 questions. I got one-half of an answer in response.
Josh Estrella [Communications and Policy Specialist]: We're working on the questions right now.
Steve Ahlquist: That's not what I'm hearing. Patricia said, “Close the loop.” Closing the loop means the end of the discussion. [Patricia Soccaras is Mayor Smiley’s Director of Communications.]
Josh Estrella: Yeah, we have your questions though, and we're going to get to them.
Steve Ahlquist: I'm not getting answers I like, but I'm also not getting answers.
After trying to ask the Mayor some of my unanswered questions, he once again told me that my questions were in the process of being answered by members of his communications staff.
Steve Ahlquist: I'm also wondering: Do you think these detectives, when they went to the encampment and told these people that they don't have any rights because they live in tents, were picking up on policies that your administration has pursued when evicting people and treating people as second class citizens?
Mayor Brett Smiley: I assume this is part of the questions that you've submitted.
Steve Ahlquist: It is, but I'm asking that question because I…
Mayor Brett Smiley [to Josh Estrella]: Do we have all these questions we're working on right now?
Josh Estrella nods.
Mayor Brett Smiley: Alright.
Staff Member: And Mayor, we do have to go. I'm so sorry.
Steve Ahlquist: No, that's fine. I appreciate your time. Thank you.
On Monday morning I emailed Director Socarras, inquiring about the status of my unanswered questions. "Hi, Patricia. Mayor Smiley and Josh both told me that my questions are being worked on. Not sure why this is taking so long, they are fairly simple."
Director Socarras's response was simply to reiterate what she had said before. No additional questions were answered, she had, as I told the Mayor, "closed the loop."
Her response:
"Steve, the response I last provided to your questions is still accurate. These officers did not lie about their location. The detectives at this location were working on an investigation unrelated to the encampment, they were in plain clothes with badges and identified themselves as Providence Police. They were not responding to a call for service which is the distinction. They are not in violation of any PPD policies.
"The City's policies around encampments work to provide people opportunities to be connected to behavioral health supports and housing opportunities before they are asked to vacate a site that is unsafe for them to live in. Providence has been disproportionately impacted by the housing crisis but has done the most to help address this issue. In addition to this work with local community providers, the City has invested $4.3 million in making shelter beds, transitional housing, and diversion services available for those most in need, and we expect to commit another $1.7 million in the current fiscal year.
"Regarding the use of drones, limited members of the Providence Police Department have access to drones, none of those individuals have recently used a drone, and Providence Police would not normally activate the use of a drone to monitor encampment sites."
Adding this up, we have Mayor Smiley's initial, kneejerk denial that any police officers had been at the encampment. This turned out to be untrue. Since then, the Mayor has deliberately not answered questions about the interaction between the officers and unhoused people in the encampment, only saying that the police officers, who are credibly accused of violating the Homeless Bills of Rights, violating the civil rights of the people at the encampment, searching without a warrant, and damaging the personal property of people at the encampment, “are not in violation of any PPD policies.” Finally, the Mayor looked me in the eye and lied about forthcoming answers to my questions.
I want to ask a hypothetical question:
Had two Providence Police Detectives entered an East Side cul de sac and rousted people from their homes, demanded that they be allowed to search their homes for drugs without warrants, ran the homeowners for warrants, threatened them with arrest, searched their property illegally, and damaged property, would the Mayor be protecting them?
The answer is, “Of course not.” The question is ridiculous. But the only difference between this hypothetical incident and the actual incident that happened Monday morning at an encampment of unhoused people is that the people the police officers harassed last weak are poor, unhoused, marginalized, and, as a result, in the eyes of these officers and the Mayor of Providence, undeserving of civil rights.
If the Mayor has another opinion about this, I’d love to sit down, pose my questions, and explore his side of the story.
This is disappointing! The Mayor should sit down with you, answer questions, and use this opportunity to highlight what he and his administration are working on in detail. He should also address what appears to be an unjust and irresponsible way of engagement with members of our community. I look forward to your follow up with him because right now it looks like he's running and that's not a pretty picture.
If there was nothing to hide, this whole issue should have been over with by now, questions answered etc. As that is not the case, hmmm......... So much for transparency, and honesty in city government.