Again in Providence, it seems that police want to go after a symptom and not the cause. In 2002, then-mayor Cianci closed down two downtown Providence pizza places because drunk rowdies assaulted a police officer outside the establishments. At that time, Cianci recommended that the businesses be closed down due to the behavior of people outside, on the sidewalk. Sure, makes sense, right? The business owners did nothing wrong except to try to run a business in Providence. Shut them down because people drank alcohol at a different business and got in fights, shot someone and assaulted a police officer outside of their doors.

Now it’s happening again. Recently, the Cheaters nightclub was found to be employing a 16 year old dancer when the city ordinance requires that they be at least 18. If you’re the hiring manager and you have that ordinance to abide by, let me ask you, how would you check? If someone showed you a state-issued drivers license and a college ID where the names and photos match, is that good enough? Should you be required to do more than that? I wouldn’t think so as even the Providence police are recommending changes to what the employers must do.

Capt. Anthony Sauro said he also wants a city ordinance requiring the strip clubs to obtain BCI (background) checks of their exotic dancers to verify their age and identity.

That’s not required today. All that is required is that the employer verify that the applicant is at least 18. Is a state-issued drivers license not good enough? If someone is going to go through the trouble of getting a “real” drivers license, one that will pass all authenticity checks but is still not valid, why are we putting that burden on the employer? Why are we blaming the business here for simply running their business, as Cianci did in 2002?

I respect the job that police need to do and have a number of good friends on the Providence Police Department but to me, these ideas of shuttering businesses after they are simply following the rules are just more examples of why Providence and Rhode Island in general are seen as not very business-friendly. Let’s deal with the source of the problems (drunk rowdies and those who prey on minors) and not the business owners trying to run a business.