North Providence in Rhode Island, US, is in the news of late due to the fact that police officers have been videotaped making teenagers do push-ups at the side of the road. The youngsters were allegedly vandalizing property and were pulled over as a result.
The North Providence police chief and mayor said that they are not happy with the way police personnel reacted to the event. The police have been working hard to change the towns image and this incident will only add fuel to the fire for anyone wanting to badmouth the town again.
Mayor Charles Lombardi said on November 26, 2012, that one cannot take the law into their own hands, when referring to the North Providence police officers’ decision to not arrest the youngsters and make them do pushups instead.
Mayor Lombardi said that he would support the decision of suspending the officers of the police chief thought that it was the right way to go. Police Chief Paul Martellini has not yet commented on the issue and said that he would like to reserve his comments until after a fair and thorough investigation has been completed.
The police officers were videotaped by a resident of Mark Street. According to the police, the teenagers had vandalized a mailbox belonging to a woman on Springdale Avenue. The lady will not be pressing charges as the mailbox was not destroyed according to her.
