Mayor Keefe, Chief Callahan Join fellow Mayors and Police Chiefs at New England Meeting on Public Safety, Effective Policing
February 6, 2025
REVERE, MA – This week, Mayor Patrick M. Keefe Jr. and Chief of Police David J. Callahan travelled to Providence, Rhode Island to participate in a New England meeting of Mayors and city Police Chiefs on best practices in city-level public safety and effective policing. Forty Mayors and Police Chiefs attended the meeting, hosted by Providence Mayor Brett Smiley and the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM).
“Assembling with such an esteemed panel of Mayors and Police Chiefs is always beneficial to share best practices and work collaboratively on regional strategies to common challenges we all face,” commented Mayor Keefe. He continued, “A sincere thank you to Mayor Smiley and his staff for the warm reception, Providence is fortunate to have such leadership.”
During the meeting, New England Mayors and Police Chiefs discussed and collaborated on best practices for addressing a variety of issues related to public safety and effective policing, as well as building relationships between local government and law enforcement. Key issues included reducing gun violence, addressing recruitment and retention challenges, policing in the new federal environment, responding to increasing incidents of hate and violent extremism across the nation, and effective overdose prevention strategies.
The meeting comes as cities continue to make important progress on safety, with many seeing declines in homicides, other violent crime and property crimes over the last few years. Strengthening public safety has always been a top priority for Mayors, and recent progress on reducing crime illustrates that the work being done at the local level to make cities safer is paying off.
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