22-07-2025
Will noise cameras be coming to Providence this year? What we know.
PROVIDENCE – Mayor Brett Smiley's office is advancing plans to crack down on high noise levels in Providence and is seeking a contractor to help install noise cameras around the city.
Once city leaders approved the fiscal year 2026 budget in mid-July, the administration was free to revisit Smiley's long sought, but controversial plan.
If installed, noise cameras would be able to detect loud music, amplified car mufflers, decked-out motorcycle exhaust systems and other violations against the city's 75-decibel noise limit. If triggered, the technology works by photographing a vehicle's license plate, which the city can use to issue a ticket.
It's unclear how much the cameras would cost and when, or where, they would be installed. Anthony Vega, a spokesperson for the mayor, explained that the city is still in the early phases of putting a call out for contractors, also known as a request for proposal (RFP).
'The city is now in the process of developing a RFP to find a vendor to partner with on a pilot program,' he said in a statement. 'Information about the locations, timeline and number of cameras will not be determined until the RFP process is complete.'
Smiley's stance is firm on noise cameras
Since taking office in 2022, Smiley has insisted on tackling quality of life issues in Providence, including noise levels. The mayor took his noise camera proposal to the General Assembly in 2024 for permission from the state, but both bills died during the session.
'We've got it in this budget. The City Council actually cut some of the funding, but we fought to preserve the rest, and the hope is that by the end of the year we'll have sound cameras in key locations around the city,' he recently told WJAR in an interview.
Smiley has previously said that the cameras would be installed evenly around the city to avoid targeting specific neighborhoods. According to research conducted by Brown University's noise lab, Providence's South Side and western neighborhoods tend to be much noisier than their East Side counterparts.
The mayor also noted that he's spoken with officials in Newport, New York City and Miami Beach, who have all implemented noise cameras. However, because the technology is fairly new, the mayor's staff hasn't supplemented their plans with extensive research.
'It's not like there's been a lengthy period of annual reports that other communities have started to issue or anything, because this is still relatively new," he said in 2024.
Noise cameras are a controversial proposal
Some noise cameras critics suggest that the technology disproportionately polices communities of color and that urban noise issues tend to be a result of poor city planning, as opposed to individual offenders.
Others also worry about its surveillance capabilities. The ACLU of Rhode Island voiced concerns last year over how Providence would store data and who would be able to access it.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Noise cameras in Providence will ticket loud cars. When they're coming.
