Mayor Elorza, Commissioner Pare respond to week of violence in Providence

"It's despicable what went on in the past couple of weeks here."

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE)- A week of violence has put Providence’s top leaders in the hot seat.

Mayor Jorge Elorza and Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare spoke with ABC6 on Friday about what’s next for the city after all of the violence, and recent calls for their dismissal.

After a week riddled with shootings, stabbings, and the City’s 13th homicide, on Tuesday woman was pulled from her car and beaten in the street by ATV riders.

On Friday, the Mayor and Commissioner addressed the violence.

“It’s despicable what went on in the past couple of weeks here,” said Commissioner Pare. “We need to stop what we’ve seen here in Providence.

Mayor Elorza, criticized for being away on vacation during this time, held a phone conference with media Friday morning.

He called out Governor Dan McKee for his letter of request for a State Police presence in the capital City.

Elorza said the city had already been in talks with State Police, and joint operations started last week.

“At the very least the Governor needs to be informed of what his own police department is doing.”

A spokesperson for the Governors Office responded to Elorza’s comment saying:

“The Governor has offered to engage the Rhode Island State Police Neighborhood Response Team (NRT) to partner with the Providence Police Department with the intended purpose of improving public safety. Two letters were sent to the Mayor offering this support, but unfortunately the Governor has not received a response from the Mayor. To date, the NRT has not been deployed on an ongoing basis in the City of Providence.”

Commissioner Pare says part of the battle is communication between Providence Police and State Police, and making a plan.

“Without coordination, without a plan, it doesn’t work,” Pare explained.

He told ABC6 he speaks with State Police officials weekly.

“You may not see that visually but we serve on task forces together,” he continued.

Resources provided with State Police include task forces to combat violence, add an extra police presence, and help get illegal ATVs off the City’s streets.

Pare says Providence Police can’t chase them out of city boundaries, but says State Police, can.

“If you come here and think you’re going to get away with driving recklessly, eventually we will apprehend you.”

The Commissioner credited his officers for doing their jobs under a severe staffing shortage.

“We’re limited on the number of police officers. We have to strategically assign them to areas that are really important,” Pare noted.

“We’re in a difficult position in this police profession.”