Smiley says outside consultant will review city’s response to Brown University shooting

PROVIDENCE, R.I.– Mayor Brett Smiley and the city of Providence on Tuesday released an after-action letter, outlining the timeline of the response to the Brown University shooting and highlighting the next steps.

“We as a city, we made contact with every single patient and had them transported to the hospital in 12 minutes,” said Lt. John Faria, a Providence firefighter.

The after-action letter showed a timeline of the city’s response.

“I’m very proud of the city’s initial response,” Smiley said. 

Moving forward, the mayor said they’ve hired an external consultant to review the response and to work with the city and all parties involved to learn from it.

“Non-biased, independent, third party with a fresh set of eyes, coming in and asking hard questions, and then being able to tell us what we did well and what we could’ve done better,” said Smiley.

The city announced it will also open a resiliency center in partnership with Family Services of Rhode Island.

“Individuals can walk in, get mental health support. It can be a brief conversation, or it can be a substantive conversation with a counselor in a dedicated private space, and this will be free and available to the community for months to come,” explained Smiley.

He said the center wouldn’t be permanent but would be open for at least nine months.

The city will also review which colleges in the capital city share their campus camera footage with the Providence Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center, which just opened over the summer.

“Students, faculty and staff on campus will be safer, the community as a whole will be safer the more people that participate,” said Smiley.

Smiley said that Brown University should consider also hiring an external consultant to review their process following the tragedy.

 “I do think that Brown will be well served by hiring their own third-party independent consultant like we are,” said Smiley. “I shared that with them, and I think they’re going to do it.”

Brown University has since launched Brown Ever True, an initiative to provide support to students in the short- and long-term recovery process.

Former Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements has also implemented safety measures since taking his new role on campus.