Busted!

Providence police have busted "the good looking bandit" (registration required). This guy was responsible for a crime spree on the East Side, often robbing store owners of relatively miniscule amounts of money. In what is becoming de rigeur during Chief Dean Esserman's tenure, there was a medium-high profile press conference to show the public that the police are doing their jobs. The Providence Journal is attentive to the dog and pony shows, which is no surprise since they've been generally supportive of city government during Mayor Cicilline's administration.

The Providence police do not put on such high profile media events when they bust everyday crack dealers, car theives, burglars, or muggers, and if they did, I'm not sure the Providence Journal would attend the press conferences. They've even stopped publishing their (once highly detailed) police reports, preferring now to publish it on a very irregular basis. Frankly, the crime in Federal Hill, Olneyville, Valley, Wankskuck and Manton, much of it violent, hurts the city moree than a middle aged robber targeting chic businesses on the East Side, but I suppose that's neither here nor there.