NORTH PROVIDENCE – So much of 2021 in North Providence was about finding some semblance of normalcy after a debilitating 2020, and slowly but surely, it happened, with children getting
NORTH PROVIDENCE – Fifteen months after being sworn in as North Providence’s chief of police, Arthur Martins is set to retire, an unexpected circumstance that he says he never envisioned when sworn in last year.
Martins, the town’s former deputy chief under David Tikoian, has a long career in law enforcement, including previously serving as a sergeant in Pawtucket, where he served for 28 years, leading successful efforts to improve neighborhoods through quality community policing. He then served as an investigator with the Office of the Attorney General before coming to North Providence in early 2018.
Martins and Mayor Charles Lombardi notified command staff of the chief’s departure Monday morning, and Lombardi used the opportunity presented at that meeting to also announce that Deputy Chief Alfredo Ruggiero Jr. will be promoted to chief and that there will be no search conducted for other candidates to replace Martins. Ruggiero, a North Providence native, was hired at the