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.