Providence PD delays no confidence vote

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Providence police officers have delayed a "no-confidence" vote  in their leader, Colonel Dean Esserman.

The Target 12 Investigators have learned the decision to take the vote was made Tuesday night. Fewer than 100 members at a Fraternal Order of Police meeting took part in the vote and sources told Target 12 not one member voted against the action.

A secret ballot vote initially set for Thursday, has now been postponed. No other date has been set for the vote.

Target 12 reached out to the Colonel, but has not received a comment. Union President Kenneth Cohen has not returned calls either, but someone answering the phone at the FOP lodge confirmed the vote and told a reporter we should expect a statement from the union's executive board sometime this afternoon.

Colonel Esserman took the job as top cop in Providence in 2003. Lured to the city by Providence Mayor David Cicilline, Esserman has rubbed some officers the wrong way for his abrasive approach to managing.

But others credit Esserman for cleaning up a department that was plagued with corruption and mismanagement. Most notably, a high-profile cheating scandal that came to light in the federal investigation into Providence city hall dubbed "Operation Plunder Dome."