Title 42, Title 42 Affairs and Government

Members of the division shall have and may exercise in any part of the state, with regard to the enforcement of the criminal laws, all powers of deputy sheriffs, town sergeants, chiefs of police, police officers, and town constables. Any person authorized to issue criminal proces…

Within the department of public safety there shall be the Rhode Island state police. The head of the state police shall be the superintendent of state police who shall be a qualified police administrator and shall be appointed by the governor, shall serve at the governor’s pleasu…

The attorney general shall act as the legal advisor of the members of the division in all matters pertaining to their official duties, and shall prosecute all suits and proceedings that they may be authorized to commence, and shall appear for and defend them in all suits and proc…

(a) If any member of the division whose service is terminated on or after January 1, 1960, shall have in the course of performance of the member’s duties suffered injury causing disability or causing death, that member or the member’s surviving dependent relatives, whose dependen…

(a) Whenever any member of the state police hired prior to July 1, 2007, has served for twenty (20) years, the member may retire therefrom or they may be retired by the superintendent with the approval of the governor, and in either event a sum equal to one-half (½) of the whole …

(a) Legislative findings. The general assembly finds that: (1) A trust was created for retirement purposes for members of the state police who were hired after July 1, 1987; however, as of January 1, 2015, there was an unfunded liability of approximately $200 million attributable…

The state of Rhode Island shall make its contribution for the maintaining of the system established by § 42-28-22.1 and providing the annuities, benefits, and retirement allowances in accordance with the provisions of this chapter by (a) annually appropriating an amount that will…

(a) The retirement program established by § 42-28-22.1 shall constitute a separate retirement program known as the “State Police Retirement Program” which shall be deemed to be a separate plan for purposes of § 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [26 U.S.C. § 401(a)], as …

Whenever a member of the Rhode Island state police, other than a civilian member, has been granted a leave of absence from the state police to enable the member to serve in the armed forces of the United States in time of war or national emergency, the time during which the membe…

(a) The provisions of §§ 9-9-3 and 12-6-6 shall also apply to all members of the division. (b) Every person who, not being a member of the division, shall wear the uniform, badge, or other insignia of or otherwise falsely assume or pretend to be a member of the division, with the…

(a) Within the Rhode Island state police there is hereby created and established a state and municipal police training school. (b) The superintendent of the state police shall have supervision of the state and municipal police training academy and shall establish standards for ad…

(a) All trainees of the state police training academy shall be compensated for death, disability, or injury incurred while in training under the provisions of this chapter as follows: (1) All medical expenses incurred as a result of such injury shall be paid by the state; and (2)…

The superintendent of the state police shall have supervision of the municipal police training school and shall establish a course of training and make all necessary rules and regulations relative to the education, physical standards, and personal character of the candidates and …

No person shall be admitted as a candidate to the municipal police training school unless he or she is a citizen of the United States and a resident of the state of Rhode Island and shall have reached the age of eighteen (18) years; nor shall any person be admitted who shall not …

Candidates meeting the physical, mental, and educational requirements of this chapter shall be admitted to the municipal police training school only upon the request of the appointing authority in the city or town of which the prospective candidate is a resident, and every such a…

(a) The Rhode Island state police and the superintendent shall be charged with the responsibility of: (1) Providing a uniformed force for law enforcement; (2) Preparing rules and regulations for law enforcement; (3) Maintaining facilities for crime detection and suppression; and …

(a) The division of state police, in consultation with other appropriate agencies, shall develop a voluntary partnership between law enforcement agencies, media outlets, and other appropriate entities to send out emergency alerts entitled the Rhode Island America’s Missing: Broad…

The division of state police shall establish protocols and procedures to implement an AMBER Alert. The protocols and procedures shall be updated as may be necessary in consultation with the entities and agencies involved in the AMBER Alert process to provide effective and efficie…

(a) The general assembly hereby finds that, in the case of a missing senior citizen, the first few hours are critical in finding such senior citizen, and that the implementation of a Missing Senior Citizen Alert program is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public pe…

The division of state police shall establish protocols and procedures to implement the missing senior citizen alert. The protocols and procedures shall be updated as may be necessary in consultation with the entities and agencies involved in the missing senior citizen alert proce…

(a) There is established a statewide alert system known as “Blue Alert” which shall be developed and implemented by the division of state police. (b) As used in this section, the term: (1) “Law enforcement agency” means a law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the search f…

The division of state police shall establish protocols and procedures to implement a “Blue Alert.” The protocols and procedures shall be updated as may be necessary in consultation with the entities and agencies involved in the “Blue Alert” process to provide effective and effici…

(a) This section establishes the PURPLE alert program to immediately alert the community about a missing adult with a serious or substantial physical, behavioral health, neurological disability, or condition that objectively establishes concerns for the immediate safety and wellb…

(a) The division of state police in consultation with the Rhode Island emergency management agency (RIEMA) shall establish protocols, procedures, and rules to implement a PURPLE alert. The protocols, procedures, and rules shall be updated as may be necessary in consultation with …

Upon the satisfactory completion of the prescribed course of training, the superintendent shall issue to each candidate a certificate of merit and shall forward to the appointing authority certification of the candidate’s qualifications for appointment.

No tuition fee or any other charge shall be assessed against any city or town for the training of any candidate and the expense of that training shall be borne by the state of Rhode Island. The general assembly shall annually appropriate such sum or sums as may be necessary for t…

The general assembly shall annually appropriate such sum as it may deem necessary for the purpose of suitable equipment and for operating expenses, maintenance, and supplies.

It shall be unlawful for the superintendent or anyone acting for the superintendent or on behalf of the division to incur in behalf of the state any obligation or make any expenditure for any purpose in excess of the amount appropriated therefor.

The state police, upon written request, shall furnish to any person involved in an accident or the person’s legal representative a copy of the official state police report of the investigation of the accident. A fee of fifteen dollars ($15.00) shall accompany each written request…

There shall be a division of state police consisting of the following members: a superintendent who shall have the rank of full colonel; as many captains as the superintendent shall deem necessary, two lieutenant colonels, three majors; as many lieutenants as the superintendent s…

No person shall solicit money from any individual or business in the name of the Rhode Island state police or any organization that would reasonably appear to be affiliated in any way with the Rhode Island state police or personnel thereof without advance written approval by the …

(a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings: (1) “Hate crime” means any crime motivated by bigotry and bias, including, but not limited to threatened, attempted, or completed acts that appear after investigation to have been motivat…

(a) The state police shall draft a uniform statewide report form to be utilized by all the police departments in the state when a motor vehicle is reported stolen or is damaged by fire. Once drafted, the report shall be made available to the several police departments within the …

The general treasurer is authorized and empowered, with the approval of the director of administration, to accept on behalf of the state police any gift or bequest of personal property, funds, securities, or other similar gift or bequest, given to the state police absolutely by a…

There is hereby established within the general fund a restricted receipt account to be known as the “state police non-state-agency reimbursements” account. All revenues deposited into the account from non-state agencies shall be used to reimburse the state police for costs incurr…

(a) The governor shall appoint the superintendent of state police, who shall serve at the pleasure of the governor and shall perform the duties prescribed by this chapter. (b) Any superintendent who has served for at least ten (10) years and has reached the age of sixty (60) year…

The holding of any section or sections or parts of this chapter to be void, ineffective, or unconstitutional for any cause shall not be deemed to affect any other section or part hereof.

Before entering upon the duties of the superintendent’s office, the superintendent shall file with the secretary of state a bond to the state of Rhode Island in the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) with a surety or sureties to be approved by the general treasurer conditioned…

The deputy superintendent shall, while there is a vacancy in the office of superintendent, be vested with all the powers and authority of superintendent.

The superintendent may employ a clerk who shall be a competent stenographer, and the general assembly shall annually appropriate such sum as it may deem necessary for the payment of the salary of the clerk. The clerk shall be numbered among the personnel of the division within th…

The superintendent shall have suitable offices furnished and assigned to the superintendent by the department of administration.

(a) The director of the department of public safety shall appoint deputy sheriffs and other necessary classifications pursuant to rank structure, subject to the appropriations process. Deputy sheriffs and other employees of the division of sheriffs shall be subject to the supervi…

Any deputy sheriff may be removed for misdemeanor in office by the Rhode Island supreme court or by the superior court sitting for the county to which the officer belongs, upon complaint made.

Every deputy shall give bond with sufficient surety or sureties to the director of the department of public safety, in a sum satisfactory to the director, not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000), for the faithful execution of the deputy's office according to law.

Any person injured by the breach of the bond of any deputy sheriff may, after recovering judgment against the deputy sheriff, the deputy's executors, or administrators, in an action brought for the default, misfeasance, or nonfeasance of such deputy sheriff, cause a suit to be in…

The general treasurer shall deliver an attested copy of the bond of any deputy sheriff to the director of the department of public safety and deliver a copy of the bond of any deputy sheriff, filed in his or her office, to any person applying and paying the sum of one dollar ($1.…