Senate testimony of Col. Dean M. Esserman on encouraging innovative and cost-effective crime reduction strategies
Date Published: 03/03/2010
Colonel Dean M. Esserman, Chief of Police for the Providence Police Department, cites importance of police partnerships with LISC, in his testimony before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary "Encouraging Innovative and Cost-effective Crime Reduction Strategies."
Excerpt
Good morning Mr. Chairman, committee members, my name is Dean Esserman and I am grateful for the opportunity to testify before your committee. I sit here in front of you today as one of America’s police chiefs. I have been the chief of police of the City of Providence for seven years. Providence is the capitol of Rhode Island and the second largest city in New England. The city of providence proper encompasses a very high concentration of our metropolitan area’s residents living in poverty; we are in fact among the top five poorest cities in the united states for children, and for too long we were also a city that saw too much violence, especially violence among our young, among our children. . . .
. . . It is in these tough economic times that our city, like so many communities across our country, have been severely tested. These times cause us to seek out the most cost-effective crime reduction strategies and to invest in what we know makes a difference. And so, i am here to tell you today that cops count, that your investment in local policing has made a difference. That the framework of community policing works, America’s police no longer work alone, they work in partnership: . . .
. . . In partnership with the Rhode Island Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) to transform distressed neighborhoods into vibrant and healthy places. We work with our local community development corporations encouraging home ownership and providing capital investment for real estate projects. The Providence Police Department works closely with the LISC sponsored Community Safety Initiative to address issues of persistent crime, disorder, and fear. The department received three Metlife Foundation Community Partnership Awards over the past few years. . . .
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> LISC Community Safety Initiative
Topics: --Community Safety, Policy
Type: Speech / Testimony / Briefing