60-80 to be cut from city police force

PROVIDENCE – Sixty to 80 positions within the Providence police department will be eliminated, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare announced Wednesday.

“After laying off 10 percent of the city’s non-union staff, closing six schools, terminating teachers and asking taxpayers to accept a significant increase in property taxes, we now must make the difficult decision to reduce our police force,” said Taveras in a news release.

“We have not taken this action lightly and it was with a heavy heart today that we delivered the news to the men and women who so proudly serve the City of Providence. Unfortunately, we simply must realize these cost savings to save our city from fiscal collapse,” he said.

Police and fire departments have had their budgets cut by 10 percent in an effort to tackle the city’s $110 million structural deficit.

Taveras and union representatives have been in negotiations on where to eliminate the $6 million from the police budget, but were unable to do so without layoffs, the news release said.