Dowling Village will increase public services cost in North Smithfield

Saturday, April 9, 2005

Dear Editor,

I would like to bring your attention to the most recent crime statistics for the retail mall called Smithfield Commons on Route 44 in Smithfield. In 2003, 114 Police calls were made to Smithfield Commons. In 2004, 108 Police calls were made. Shoplifting, larceny, and credit card theft were the main complaints. Others were for assault, motor vehicle thefts, counterfeiting/forgery, embezzlement, vandalism, drugs, weapons, disorderly conduct, and other traffic and related offenses.

Since the proposed Dowling Village mega mall in North Smithfield is twice the size of Smithfield Commons and with the additional automobiles expected due to the MED Zone, I think you can safely quadruple the Smithfield numbers. How will the North Smithfield Police Department absorb all these extra calls? How many more full time police officers will have to be hired? With health and pension benefits figured in, the taxpayers will be paying a heavy price in additional taxes just for the extra personnel needed for the Police Department.

Add in an extra ambulance or two and another fire truck to respond to the medical calls and traffic accidents, and a few more full time firemen and EMT's, and you can hear the ka-ching of tax dollars rising even more. North Smithfield's Fire Department runs on a very tight budget already. I cannot imagine where the tax dollars will come from to equip and man the fire stations after the mega mall is built.

North Smithfield officials had better take a real hard look at the numbers before approving any such mall in this town.

Sincerely,

Gloria Gagnon
North Smithfield, RI