Residents irritated by ongoing sounds of gunfire from Cranston’s Police Academy Training Complex on Phenix Avenue addressed the City Council with quality of life and mental health concerns on Oct. 24. Many of the residents attended the September Safety Services and Licenses Committee meeting voicing similar issues.

The Police Academy Training Complex seeks to produce professionally skilled officers and precise policing. The facility is regularly open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is busiest in the months of September and October when Cranston Police are working on their qualifications. In addition to the city’s police using the range, departments from Johnston, Smithfield and East Providence and the Municipal Academy also use the facility for training.

“The range was built for the Cranston Police Department – it should be used by the Cranston Police Department,” said Scotland Road resident Patricia Schoeninger on Oct. 24, adding that other departments should go elsewhere.

At the September Safety Services and Licenses Committee meeting, Major Todd Patalano said outside departments use the range one week a year; the department has been shooting at the area off Phenix Avenue since 1952 with most of the surrounding neighborhood homes and schools built after the range. On Monday, Patalano said as a courtesy, the department provides a monthly schedule showing the days and times that shooting will occur. He added that the shooting is subject to change based on cancellations as well as if officers need to train in the dark and are there later than 5 p.m. 

Schoeninger said the Cranston Police Department told residents a shooting range schedule would be posted every week and that on Oct. 4, she requested an updated shooting schedule since the last updated schedule was on Sept. 12.

“This should be done every week there is activity at the range without me having to remind the CPD that this is what they were going to do for my community and be a good neighbor,” Schoeninger said.

She added that the shooting sometimes occurs outside of the schedule’s times and will reach out to the city’s Constituents Affairs Office when this happens. The shooting range schedule lists that from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. from Oct. 24 to Oct. 28 there would be moderate shooting at the range since the Municipal Academy will be there.

“These will be two of the four most used weeks of the year. The other two weeks are the academy in the spring. There are 64 recruits this session so there will be sustained firing most days. All times are approximate,” reads the schedule.

To Schoeninger, this schedule means she has to leave her house for 12 hours every day if she does not want to hear gunfire; her concession to the city was to reduce nearby residents’ property taxes.

Laconia Road resident Roberta Judge, who’s a mother of three, spoke about her children’s exposure to the gunshots.

“My son told me he wouldn’t know whether there was a real mass shooting or not because they hear this gun noise constantly,” said Judge.

She added that the gunshots are scarier for students now that mass shootings are on the rise across the country.

Cranston resident Dr. Patricia Ricci does not live near the range but, after hearing about residents' concerns, felt compelled to speak on the matter and how the sound of gunshots affects the brain.

Ricci received her M.D. from Brown University Warren Alpert School of Medicine and completed a four year psychiatric residency at Brown. She is board certified in psychiatry and neurology.

“I ask all of you, is your home your solace?” Ricci directed the council. “Imagine what it’s like hearing gunshots throughout the day.”

Ricci said physiologically, the sound of gunshots affects blood pressure, the cardiovascular system, the nervous system and raises cortisol levels. While Ricci talked about the average person and gunshots’ effects, she also spoke about the effect gunshots can have for people who have a history of violence or individuals who have generalized anxiety disorders, panic disorders or agoraphobia.

“I understand the police have to practice, I’m certainly aware that they are here to protect society, but this is not a protection of society,” Ricci said.

Laconia Road resident Martha DiMeo read excerpts of a letter from Dr. Melissa Jenkins to Mayor Ken Hopkins on the issue. Jenkins is a neuropsychologist whose research and clinical practice specialized in the impact of traumatic stress on the brain; her letter was sent in September.

“I understand that students and teachers are also hearing this gunfire during school hours and reacting with alarm, and that one teacher nearly called for a lockdown as a result. During the horrifying era of school shootings in which we live, I cannot emphasize enough how terribly traumatic it is to hear the sound of gunfire at a school. Ever. At all. This should not be allowed,” wrote Jenkins.

On Monday, Patalano said the department has looked into the effects hearing gunshots has on people and that there is no evidence to suggest the alleged effects that were raised on Oct. 24; he said it is somewhat suspect that residents brought in their own witness on the issue of mental health and said the police department has heard from residents who don’t want the range moved and like having the facility nearby.

DiMeo suggested the city call the Providence Police Department and National Guard to find where they practiced while one range was worked on and the other closed. Like Schoeninger, she added that the Cranston Police Department should stop renting the area.

Chief of Staff Anthony Moretti provided an update on the shooting range’s schedule – saying that every time the administration receives a copy of the schedule, they post it to the city’s website.

To mitigate the noise pollution, the city and police department have two pending grants for enclosing the facility – one submitted on April 8 and the other on April 21 of this year. If the grants are approved, approximately $1.6 million will be given to solve this problem. The city awaits an update on the status of the funding.