Shootings are down about 50% in Providence so far this year says Mayor Elorza

PROVIDENCE — The city has seen about half as many shooting incidents and gun homicides to date in 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, Mayor Jorge Elorza said Monday.

"Thankfully this year, those numbers have come back down to earth," Elorza said.

"Numbers are trending in the right direction and there is reason for cautious optimism," he added.

Elorza shared his observations as he and police officials commented on a wave of gun seizures over the weekend. At the afternoon news conference, city officials also announced that Providence is poised to explore license-plate-reading technology in an effort to identify criminals' vehicles.

Elorza did not immediately provide a table of statistics comparing last year's gun violence to this year's.

"We'll send you all the data," he said.

"Year-to-date on shooting incidents, shooting victims and homicides as a result of shootings, they are all about 50% down from last year," he said.

Providence gun seizures

Meanwhile, both Elorza and Police Chief Hugh Clements Jr. said police are on track to smash last year's haul of 210 guns seized during a calendar year.

The city has seized 100 guns so far.

At this time in 2021, city officials were dealing with the rising gun violence, including a shooting in the city's Washington Park neighborhood that brought national headlines.

Police: 9 wounded in Providence, Rhode Island shooting

Elorza said Monday that he sees a close correlation between criminals arming themselves during the pandemic and violence in 2020 and 2021.

The "dam broke" in the middle of the pandemic, he said.

"We just had a very, very tough 12 months after that," he said.

Providence police seized nine handguns within an eight-hour period Saturday night into Sunday morning, said Clements who, like Elorza, praised local police for their focus on the seizure of illegal guns.

Some of the seizures followed shootings. Clements said he believed the police work prevented violence that might have led to a death.

Crisis-response team: Providence Center to partner with city on crisis response team diverting 911 calls

'The right to feel safe': In shooting's wake, neighbor pushes city to make Providence park safe

Officials promise policy on plate readers

Elorza and Clements promised that the department will establish a policy prior to the use of technology that reads license plates and identifies cars and trucks associated with criminals.

More: Who's watching you? New surveillance cameras make inroads in RI, raising privacy concerns

The use of such technology by police in Cranston has drawn criticism from civil liberties advocates concerned about privacy. Another concern has involved oversight by legislative bodies such as city councils.

"All of our policies are online," said Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré. "So they're obviously available to anyone who wants to come and look at our policy ... and give recommendations. These are in major cities across the country. We don't have to re-establish the Rules of Engagement. We're going to follow the best practices so people's concerns about their privacy are protected."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence shootings down 50% so far in 2022, Mayor Elorza says