02/27/07 NBC 10 Rides Along With Our Staff and East Providence Police NBC 10 reporter Michelle Brown gets into a bullet-proof vest outside the East Providence Police Station before commencing her riding along in a police cruiser with Officer Jeff Perry and Family Service of Rhode Island staff member Christine Santos LCSW.  The bullet-proof vest is a safety requirement of the East Providence police. Recently, Family Service of Rhode Island and the East Providence Police Department announced a new collaboration to help victims, particularly children, touched by domestic violence.  The collaboration is made possible through a $27,000 grant from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island's BlueAngel Community Health Grant Program. Dr. Susan Erstling, who heads the domestic violence response team at Family Service of Rhode Island, explains the program on camera in front of the East Providence Police Station. Part of the initiative involves Family Service of Rhode Island staff regularly riding in a police cruiser to follow up on domestic violence cases and to provide immediate social service intervention and language translation in response to incidents that may take place while on patrol.  NBC 10 wanted to bring its viewers a street-level view of this work, so on Tuesday, February 27, it sent a reporter and camera person to accompany our staff member Christine Santos LCSW and Officer Jeff Perry on the beat.  The report was aired later that day and the next morning. Dr. Erstling, Officer Perry and Christine Santos LCSW shortly before Officer Perry and Ms. Santos hit the streets with the NBC 10 crew. For more information about the domestic violence response team, please click here. Please click here to read the March 2, 2007 East Providence Post story on the team. And see the East Providence Area Chamber of Commerce's coverage.   (end)   .