Starting today, two additional police officers from the Providence Police Department will begin patrolling the Hope High School area in order to curb loitering and more effectively enforce the school's truancy policy.
If a student is caught off school grounds, he or she will be stopped and asked to provide a legitimate reason for the absence. If it is apparent that a student has breached school regulations, the officer will immediately transport the delinquent back to Hope, according to PPD. The offender will suffer varying degrees of consequences, ranging from community service to suspension.
Also, PPD has reinforced its patrol that covers the Thayer Street area after 3 p.m. and is collaborating extensively with Brown's Department of Public Safety, according to a PPD representative. The additional officers will be patrolling areas near the school between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
"Our main goal here is that kids stay in school," said PPD Lt. David Lapatin, who is in charge of the area surrounding Hope High School. "We're willing to use some of our resources to help Hope High out with that and to keep the Brown University students as safe as possible."
Two other resource officers already monitor Hope's student body on a daily basis. Even though crime rates have fallen, the PPD maintains its commitment to keep students in school and ensure the safety of the community at large, Lapatin said.
"The school squad is definitely aware of Hope High students," said Sgt. Mary Day of the PPD Youth Service Bureau. "We need to make sure the students don't stray from the campus at lunchtime."
The primary impetus for the increased police presence is a slew of complaints from the community about students lingering and occasionally trespassing in the area. Lapatin said the new initiative is only loosely related to the recent assaults on College Hill. Instead, it is an urban outreach program to advocate for responsible school attendance, he said.
On Sept. 10, a group of Hope High School students committed two separate assaults near Brown's campus, separated by a matter of minutes. Other assaults on College Hill either did not involve Hope students or are still under investigation.
The new officers will help to prevent similar situations like the Sept. 10 group attacks in the future, Lapatin said.
"We're not doing it out of fear that Brown University is in danger of assault," he said. "We're doing it because we want Brown students to feel safe when they walk the streets. The assault rate is very, very low. But if one person gets assaulted, that's one too many for us."
In addition to a more stringent attendance policy recently implemented, Hope is attempting to revitalize the academic performance of its students to meet state and national standards after consistently underperforming state averages. PPD hopes the added officers will buttress the administration's movement to improve success rates and maintain order.
"Hope High School is going through a transition now," Lapatin said. "There aren't many kids that leave the campus, but there's enough that do it that we feel like we should go in and help them out."
The extra officers will be stationed in the area indefinitely, Lapatin said, adding that their presence will quickly change students' attendance patterns.
But some Hope High students have differing opinions, claiming that strengthening the police force will have either no effect or possibly a detrimental effect.
Lawrence Cunningham, a Hope High sophomore, said he doesn't think students are going to be deterred from skipping out. "I think it's good because it's against the law to miss school," he said. "But it's not going to be effective."
Faviola Rodriguez, also a sophomore, said she was happy to hear about the added force. "I think it's right," she said. "Some kids want to get out of school because they don't like learning."
Ultimately, PPD is concerned about safety and nurturing responsible values for today's students, Lapatin said.
"There's no way you're going to wipe out crime altogether," he said. "You can't. It's impossible. But you can keep it as low as you can, and that's what we're doing."
