Category: Media Mentions
BRISTOL, RI-Every year, Travel + Leisure asks readers to weigh in on their travel experiences around the globe. Readers rate cities on categories including their sights and landmarks, culture, cuisine, friendliness, shopping, and overall value.
The ballot for the 2021 Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards has been released, and Bristol was included in the “Cities” category.
To vote for Bristol, individuals must visit https://wba.m-rr.com/home and create an account to get start. Users are able to vote once per email address.
“Bristol is honored to be in the running for this distinguished travel award,” said Bristol’s Economic Development Coordinator Chris Vitale. “With its historic downtown district, museums, outdoor recreation, and a robust summer events calendar, Bristol is truly a premier New England destination.”
Voting is open now through May 10, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. Thank you for voting!
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October 7, 2020- Christy Nadalin, East Bay Newspapers
When the Bristol police station on Metacom Avenue was dedicated 42 years ago, it was lauded as one of the most up to date in New England. Of late, it’s just dated. With old linoleum floors and acoustic tiles that had long been painted over to hide years of cigarette smoke stains, the station was in dire need of some attention.
Fortunately, the department had talent in-house: Greg Silvia and John Mlynek, both senior patrol officers, were reassigned temporarily from regular patrols to painting, refinishing doors, and modernizing the office spaces.
According to Capt. Brian Burke, the Department’s chief of administration, through collective bargaining the chief can temporarily reassign officers for 90 days. It’s done routinely, primarily in the detective division, which allows patrol officers to spend time doing a different kind of police work.
“If these officers weren’t officers, they’d be craftsmen,” said Chief Kevin Lynch. “Calls were down, crime was down, establishments were closed … we were kind of bumping into each other here, to be honest. So we put their talents to work.”
October 7, 2020- Christy Nadalin, East Bay Newspapers
On Wednesday morning, members of the Bristol Police Department and local officials gathered at Fire Department headquarters for an annual training session on recognizing and understanding bias in policing. Sgt. Wesley Pennington of the Rhode Island State Police served as the administrator of the training, assisted by Trooper Krystal Carvalho.
Members of the community as well as local officials were included in the conversation, which was held both as a standard best practice as well as a requirement for maintaining the department’s national accreditation.
In opening the event, Police Chief Kevin Lynch praised his department for maintaining high standards of excellence, while adding that there is always room for improvement. Citing a 2018 story that identified some anomalies in the proportion of minorities cited for traffic violations in Bristol, where 94 percent of residents are caucasian, he noted that the data was skewed due to the fact that 60 percent of those traffic stops were not Bristol residents but rather those coming and going from Colt State Park, a popular summer destination.