NBC 10 I-Team Exclusive: RI court costs out of whack

Posted: Apr 27, 2015 7:17 PM EDT
Updated: Apr 28, 2015 11:46 AM EDT
By Katie Davis, NBC 10 I-Team Reporter

NBC 10 began investigating the state's unpaid court costs in February, and learned criminals owe Rhode Island taxpayers more than $70 million.

But, the I-Team also learned that chasing that cash isn't always worth the cost. In some cases, Rhode Island taxpayers spend more to lock people up than those people ever owed.

Full Story

Providence Community Development

YOU ARE INVITED TO DISCUSS YOUR PRIORITIES FOR OUR COMMUNITIES AND NEIGHBORHOODS

The City of Providence, Department of Planning and Development invites you to a series of conversations about your priorities for housing and community development needs throughout the city.

The Community Development Division will be gathering the input from these meetings and using it to shape future spending and project priorities and to update the City's Consolidated Plan - which guides the city's spending on housing and community development.

Some of the topics covered will be: affordable housing; homelessness; senior services; parks and recreation; services for families, adults, and children; accessibility and mobility; persons with HIV/AIDS; lead paint and other unhealthy or unsafe housing issues; economic development; and public safety.

Schedule of Meetings

To RSVP, please contact Donna Miele at dmiele@providenceri.com.
Please complete our Community Needs Survey: http://tinyurl.com/ProvidenceCDBGSurvey.

School Funding - Snow Plowing - Police/Fiscal Policy

Excerpts from City Councilman Sam Zurier's
January 18, 2015 Ward Letter
This week’s Ward Letter discusses school funding, snow plowing and responsible fiscal policy

The Rhode Island House of Representatives organized a commission to study the impacts of the 2010 school aid funding formula, particularly in terms of the interactions between charter schools and host public school districts...  Slide show Report

Now is a good time to remind everyone of how to reach the Department of Public Works with your snow plowing questions.  The main telephone number is 467-7950, which works Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  This is helpful for 40 hours a week, which is slightly less than a quarter of the time.  Unfortunately, snow storms are not limited to the working week...

This past Thursday (January 15), the City Council held its first official business meeting since taking office.  Among the items discussed was a Resolution eleven of my colleagues co-sponsored urging funding for two new police academy classes, with the goal of adding 80 to 100 officers to the force...

NPR: The Providence crime myth

By Scott MacKay

Unless you were living in the abandoned East Side tunnel during the Providence mayoral campaign, you listened to round after round of desultory electioneering rhetoric about high crime in the city.

More

East Side of Providence Rocked by Crime

Friday, December 12, 2014
Kate Nagle, GoLocal Contributor

Property crime has seen an uptick on the East Side of Providence in recent months, and residents have been voicing their concerns -- and how to address the issue.

http://golocalprov.com/news/east-side-of-providence-rocked-by-crime

Aaron Regunberg’s District 4 Community Forum

Notes from newly elected State Representative Aaron Regunberg’s District 4 Community Forum at the Rochambeau Library November 17.

Police Staffing

Here is some info for us as Providence residents:

1. City’s police force is now at 399 officers, down from 498 in 2001 (according to Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare).

2. A new crop of around 50 officers are expected to join the force later this year (October) when the Providence Police Academy graduates.(The article below says 60 recruits --but remember the numbers go down once the academy starts.)

Providence Police begin largest training academy in city’s history