There shall be a Department of Public Safety, the head of which
shall be the Director of Public Safety who shall be or be appointed
by the Manager.
The Director of Public Safety, subject to the supervision of
the Manager, shall be responsible for the efficient operation of the
services of said Department. He shall be responsible for the general
supervision of the Police Department and any other divisions of his
Department and for the enforcement and execution of all laws and ordinances
and of the rules and regulations of said departments.
Within the Department of Public Safety there shall be a division
known as the Police Department and any other divisions as may now
or hereafter be established. The head of the Police Department and
any other division shall be a Chief who shall be appointed by the
Director of Public Safety with the approval of the Manager.
The Chief of Police, and the Chief of any other divisions now
or hereafter established, shall be the chief executive officers of
their respective departments and be responsible for the administration
and discipline of their departments, subject to the direction of the
Director of Public Safety. The Chief of Police, and the Chief of any
other established departments shall enforce the laws of the State
and the ordinances of the Town and shall exercise and perform the
powers and duties by law imposed upon and required of said departments
and their chiefs in the several towns of the State.
The Chief of any department within the Department of Public
Safety shall have had at least three years experience above the rank
of patrolman or its equivalent in any organized public safety department
of a similar character. In addition to said Chief, there shall be
such subordinate officer ranks as shall from time to time be designated
by the Council upon recommendation of the Manager.
The Manager shall have the right to remove said Chief of any
department within the Department of Public Safety by transmitting
a notice to the Chief that he intends to so remove him. Any such notice
shall specify the grounds on which the removal of the Chief is sought.
These grounds may, at the election of the Manager, be specific or
general in character, and may include the grounds that such removal
is in the best interests of the Town and that such removal is desirable
because it is the opinion of the Manager that better arrangements
for Chief of said Department can be made. The notice shall also inform
the Chief of said Department that he may demand a public hearing with
respect to the notice of intention to remove him. Said notice shall
be served personally upon the Chief or shall be forwarded to him by
registered mail. Within seven days after receiving such notice, the
Chief may notify the Manager that he demands such a hearing. If said
public hearing is requested, the Manager must within 10 days of such
notice, call a public hearing at a time and place to be designated
by him. Such meeting, to be held at an appropriate place within the
Town, shall be presided over by the Manager. Such hearing shall be
purely legislative or administrative in character, and not judicial,
although the department chief shall have the right to be represented
by counsel. Both the Chief and the Manager shall have the right to
be heard but there shall be no obligation on the part of either to
speak for or against the matter in question.
All police officers of the Department of Public Safety shall
be appointed or promoted, as the case may be, by the Manager upon
the recommendation of the Chief of their Department and the Director
of Public Safety, provided that they have passed such qualifying tests
as may be established by ordinance. They shall hold their respective
offices during good behavior, until vacated by death, resignation,
retirement, or removal for the good of the service by the Council
upon recommendation of their Chief, Director of Public Safety and
the Manager.
In addition to the members of the permanent police force, the
Manager, upon recommendation of the Director of Public Safety and
the Chief of Police, may appoint additional constables for occasional
service, and for limited terms. Said constables shall receive such
compensation commensurate with their duties as may be fixed by the
Council. A constable may be removed at any time by the Manager upon
recommendation of the Chief of Police and the Director of Public Safety.
The Manager, upon recommendation of the Chief and the Director
of Public Safety, shall have the power to discipline members of the
permanent police force. The disciplinary procedure shall follow Rhode
Island General Law, the Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights,
and the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Further regulation of the division of the Department of Public
Safety, consistent with the provisions of this Charter, may be established
by ordinances as hereafter provided.