Overview
In September, 2020, Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza announced an engagement with PFM’s Center for Justice and Safety Finance, which conducted an independent budget analysis and operations review of the City’s Public Safety Department. The goal of the review and analysis is to provide a breakdown of possible savings and efficiencies in public safety operations to increase capacity for prevention-first investments and approaches in sectors like housing, education, health care, mental health and social services, and workforce training, among others. Below is the final report findings, as well as it’s recommendations.
Report Overview
The PFM report is organized into four key sections:
- An analysis of the Department of Public Safety and its historical and projected expenditures and revenues.
- An overview of the Providence Fire Department’s (PFD) organizations, personnel, operations, workload, and collective bargaining agreement.
- An overview of the Providence Police Department’s (PPD) organizations, personnel, operations, workload, and collective bargaining agreement.
- Options to effectively take a Prevention-First approach to safety and justice and improve the efficiency of fire and police services.
The end of the report also includes a robust appendix and glossary of terms
*link to report
To provide residents the opportunity to learn about the findings of the report, PFM’s recommendations, and to submit questions, the City is hosting a series of webinars. Please use the below registration links to receive the zoom information, as well as to submit questions in advance.
Session 1:
Session 2:
Session 3:
If you were unable to make any of the community engagement sessions but would like to learn more about the report findings and recommendations, please see the below event recording.