On the night of a fatal shooting at Brown University, an investigation into those responsible was immediately launched, with a command center set up in an unexpected location: Mayor Brett Smiley’s living room.
Jim DeRentis, the mayor’s husband, explained that this was the first time the historic College Hill brownstone a few blocks from the Brown University campus had been used in this way, but residents were happy to open their homes to exhausted first responders.
“The police walked in the front door within a few minutes. Apparently, we live across the street. I could see the sirens,” he said. “I just stood there and watched people methodically process what was coming and do their jobs.”
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley.
In the days that followed, the city’s first gentleman continued to walk his dog along Cook Street and Mercy Street every day. He watched as the once sleepy neighborhood transformed into a hub of activity, with local police and FBI agents scouring the snow for clues, television cameramen waiting nearby and helicopters hovering overhead.
“It’s a quiet university town. Even though it’s the capital, it’s a relatively quiet place. It’s so alien to the people who live here,” he explains.
While the mayor continues to work at City Hall, at the Providence Public Safety Center or in the community, Derentis does his best to calm neighbors’ concerns, assuring them that his husband and the entire law enforcement community are working nonstop until the perpetrators are brought to justice.
Drentis, a local real estate agent, did everything he could to support Smiley through the long and arduous days.
“His own personal well-being was so low on his list of priorities that every now and then we had to step in and say, ‘Go home now,'” he said, describing one late night in particular. “He came home and I made him some soup and put him to bed.”
This article originally appeared in the Providence Journal: Jim Derentis describes life with Brett Smiley during Brown investigation