Poli-ticks

Here's why 'Crimetown' happened

By Arlene Violet
Posted 7/26/17

"Crimetown," the podcast which aired the dirty laundry of Providence around the world, was brilliantly conceived by its creators, Zac Stuart-Pontier and Marc Smerling. Although it was an unflattering …

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Poli-ticks

Here's why 'Crimetown' happened

Posted

"Crimetown," the podcast which aired the dirty laundry of Providence around the world, was brilliantly conceived by its creators, Zac Stuart-Pontier and Marc Smerling. Although it was an unflattering look at the criminals and politicians and their abettors who earned the city such a moniker, it was deadly accurate. I was the producers’ guest at the July13 session at the Columbus Theater. Most in the crowd treated the bad guys like rock stars.

First on the stage was armored car thief Tony Fiore, who sounded like he was auditioning for Steve Colbert’s job. He regaled the crowd with tales of his armored car heists. His focus was on how smart he was, although, I have to admit, I think anybody who spent 30 years in jail over his 74 years is anything but a MENSA man. The crowd ate it all up, nonetheless, particularly the story about how Fiore was recognized by his voice by a bartender when talking in a North Providence restaurant. “I said, I’m glad I never came in with a ski mask and robbed you and said, ‘Give me the money’.” Devoid in the conversation was any recognition of the misery of those relieved of their hard-earned money.

So the night went. Raymond Patriarca was portrayed by his cardiologist in such glowing terms that I thought he’d bump Mother Theresa off the canonization list at the Vatican. The next day in the Providence Journal various attendees were quoted as countenancing the crimes of the felons like they were minor aberrations. One lady opined that “it was the culture. Everyone loved Raymond." "He was good to the community." And "Everybody met Buddy. He went to the opening of an envelope.” I would guess that everybody didn’t love Patriarca, particularly the families of the dozens of men killed by his orders or who were shaken down week after week for protection money. Buddy Cianci isn’t quite so cute if you are the person on whose face he put out his cigarette and hit with a log. Another woman shrugged her shoulders, ”Crime is everywhere. Rhode Islanders are a close community. Somebody also knows somebody and you end up being related.”

While I bemoan this laissez-faire attitude, I think she is on to something. The core reason why crooked politicians are reelected every year is because their constituents do know of their misdeeds but they want him (and it usually is a him) to be in office just in case they need an unsavory favor in the future. In the final analysis, Crimetown is able to exist because of the voter who wants to “know a guy.”

For that “privilege” of hedging one’s bets to cash in potentially at a later date lays the problem. The audience soft-pedaled the human misery perpetrated by these lowlifes. Of course, the state itself takes a hit as do the families of the Patriarca/Cianci cheerleading squad. Wikipedia states that there have been millions of downloads of the podcast, with Crimetown being number 1 in the United States, the third most popular in Canada, second in Australia, and sixth in the United Kingdom. I imagine companies will just want to flock to the state to hire Rhode Islanders.

Arlene Violet is an attorney and former Rhode Island Attorney General.

Arlene Violet, Crimetown

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