Providence City Council President David Salvatore responds to the Providence Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), Lodge #3 comments linking recent gun violence to the implementation of the Community Safety Act.

“The women and men of the Providence Police Department are extraordinary public servants, and I thank them for all their dedication and hard work in keeping our city safe. However, I disagree with the recent comments made by the FOP President. The PCPRA, which was passed by the City Council, has in no way emboldened criminals to act out in defiance against the Police. Frankly, that kind of fear-mongering is simply not based in fact and is counterproductive. The PCPRA merely codifies a series of standards, many of which were already in place, and all of which were agreed upon by a broad coalition of stakeholders – which included the Commissioner of Public Safety, the Chief of Police and the most recent past President of the FOP.

“Violence will only end when we begin to address its root causes. Furthermore, we need to come together and demand that our elected officials in Rhode Island and beyond work to ensure that loopholes and back-channel means of purchasing guns ends immediately. We also need them to close the access points to illegal guns and get them off our streets. Only then will gun violence cease to be an everyday occurrence in the United States.”