CityState: C urrent
Sergeant Anthony Roberson is involved
with the community and local youth.
Sergeant Anthony Roberson, Ed.D
Sergeant Anthony Roberson, Ed.D, an eighteen-year Prov-
idence Police veteran, always stood out among his colleagues.
He’s a man of color from the Hartford Park projects serving in
a department that often struggles to reflect the community it serves
(though its 2017 academy class was its most diverse ever).
Outside of work, Roberson is heavily involved in the community,
founding three initiatives that serve local youth, volunteering with
Sojourner House and teaching driver’s education at Roger Williams
University. Last year, he was honored with a Jefferson Award for
community service from NBC 10 and was one of three Providence
Police officers to receive the United States Attorney General’s Award
for Distinguished Service in Policing. He also earned a spot in the
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hall of Fame for the city
of Providence.
Roberson also boasts an academic pedigree unusual in a career
that, he notes, only requires a high school diploma. He holds mas-
ter’s degrees in both criminal justice and education. As if that
weren’t enough, Roberson recently earned a distinction that is unique
in the 155-plus-year history of the Providence Police Department:
the first officer to hold an Ed.D. (doctorate in education) from Liberty
University.
A doctorate is no small aspiration in any field, but for Roberson,
20 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l
MARCH 2020
it meant five years of policing and studying almost unbroken by
anything else. Four to five days a week he worked the day shift in
the juvenile division, then hit the books until midnight.
Liberty’s program blends distance and residential learning,
which required him to spend weeks at a time in Virginia. All of his
vacation time was used there (where he also earned his master’s
in education). “I haven’t taken a vacation since 2011,” he says.
The question is: Why do it?
“To become a better public servant,” he says. “Being in law
enforcement requires split-second decisions involving life or death,
so at the very least, I should be educated. An educated officer is a
better officer.”
While the letters “Ed.D.” after his name don’t necessarily open
doors to career advancement in law enforcement (though he’d
consider teaching in higher education), he sees the achievement
as its own end. For a kid from Providence public schools to return
with a doctorate is a powerful inspiration.
“I’m in the schools on a regular basis. I hope when I interact
with these young people, they see reflections of themselves in me,”
he says.
“My greater mission is to pass it along, to empower others. I can
perhaps open the door for others to follow suit.”
Meet the officer with a unique distinction in Providence Police history. By John Taraborelli