He's like a computer. Moran can drive down a street, rattling off who lives in house after house, plus whose relatives live around the corner. Moran heads out of the police station lot into the tiny, densely packed city. Fourteen communities, including Providence and Cranston, made 11 or fewer arrests per officer. Nineteen communities reported making at least twice as many arrests per officer as Cranston, the lowest-ranking city.
Police chiefs interpret the numbers quite differently.
Abbott thinks his department's programs helped keep it from being higher. Abbott emphasized community policing, Cranston's nine-officer Family Services Bureau, and other programs intended to prevent crime rather than react to it. For example, he said, the Family Services Bureau works with families with problem children to help resolve conflicts before they become crimes. Abbott also questioned the Central Falls arrest figures. Those shouldn't be included, the state police say.