In September, United States Attorney General Eric Holder spoke at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference. “To save lives, the first officers to arrive must sometimes be the ones to directly engage an active shooter,” Holder said. “That’s why all law enforcement officers must have the best equipment and most up-to-date training to confront these situations. We owe these officers nothing less.”  With the recent tragedies of the Boston Marathon bombings and ensuing manhunt, and the Newtown school shootings, it has become imperative for law enforcement to strive for solutions on how to better prepare and prevent these events. 

With this being said, the Smithfield Police Department is proud to announce the addition of a new piece of equipment, which will better prepare its officers for incidents such as the ones mentioned by A.G. Holder. The Smithfield Police Department’s “Bail Out Bag” is a small bag supplied with less commonly used items that may be of great benefit during incidents that fall outside the officer’s normal workload. The bags are designed to be readily accessible to responding officers who may find themselves in an active shooter scenario, prolonged perimeter position, or any incident that would require immediate action without the necessary time to return to the patrol vehicle for additional gear.  Often times this type of equipment is issued to SRT or SWAT units, or an individual officer supplies him or herself.  However, in an effort to properly prepare their officer’s for whatever situation may arise, the Smithfield Police Department is providing all 41 sworn officers with their own bag.

Contents of the Bail Out Bag include, Tactical Wedge-It door stops, Milspec Cobra Cuff disposable restraints, chemical light sticks, and paracord. In addition all officers were supplied with several medical supplies crucial in combat casualty care. Each Bail Out Bag contains two Olaes Modular Bandages, one SOF Tactical tourniquet, one Halo chest seal, and two packages of Z-Pak gauze. All items chosen for the bag were selected after extensive research and consulting with various Law Enforcement, Military, and Medical professionals. 

In addition to the Bail Out Bags, all 41 members of the Smithfield Police Department were provided Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) training. During this training, officers were trained on how to implement the medical supplies issued in order to treat severe blood loss, as well as various other common life threatening injuries that could occur during a critical incident. Sgt. Ryan Duffy of the Newport Police Department conducted training for the Smithfield Police Department in October of 2013. In an effort to maintain proficiency, continuing education through online training will be completed by members of the department.

It is the vision of the Smithfield Police Department “To be recognized as the most professional, well respected, highly trained, proactive, community-oriented law enforcement agency in Rhode Island.” With the addition of the Bail Out Bag’s and TCCC training, the Smithfield Police Department is proving that they are constantly striving towards their goals within the community. 

For further information on the Bail Out Bags, contact Captain Robert Eaton of the Smithfield Police Department at 401-231-2500 ext. 103.

RI Attorney General Kilmartin Warns of Aggressive Jury Duty and Arrest Warrant Scam

Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin is warning Rhode Islanders of an aggressive new scam hitting the area, where people are being threatened with imminent arrest for failure to appear for jury duty, however they are offered the opportunity to “post bail” by paying a certain amount with a credit card.  

The scam artist claims to be from a local county sheriff’s office, has personal information about the individual, such as name and address, and appears to be calling from a phone number with a local area code. 

Those who have been contacted tell the Office of Attorney General that the caller gets aggressive and threatening when questioned about the claims, often indicating they will be arriving at the home shortly to make the arrest.  

Residents should be aware of several red flags associated with this scam: 

• The Jury Commissioner’s Office for the Rhode Island Superior Court does not issue arrest warrants for individuals who fail to appear for jury duty.  If someone fails to appear for jury duty, the Courts will contact the individual to inquire why they failed to appear and will reschedule or excuse the individual based on the circumstances. 

• If an arrest warrant is issued for an individual, law enforcement will not contact the person to let them know it exists.  No law enforcement agency in Rhode Island will allow an individual to post bail by credit card over the telephone to avoid being arrested. 

• Sheriffs in Rhode Island are a division of the Rhode Island Department of Public Safety and primarily work with the Courts.  Unlike most other states, Rhode Island does not have sheriff departments based in counties.  Each city and town has its own local police department. 

Attorney General Kilmartin is urging anyone who receives a similar phone call or threat to contact their local police to report the incident.  “While it is more likely than not this scam is being operated outside Rhode Island, the quickest way to stop it from spreading is to be aware of their tactics and inform law enforcement.  If you are contacted by this outfit, get the name and the phone number of the person calling, make note of who they allegedly work for, and then hang up and contact your local police,” said Attorney General Kilmartin. 

“Scam artists often use information that is readily available on the Internet, like your name, address and phone number, to give the perception they are legitimate and to heighten the fear of their victims that an arrest is imminent. It is despicable and it is illegal.”  

Attorney General Kilmartin has notified the Rhode Island Judiciary and the Rhode Island Sheriffs, a division of the Rhode Island Department of Public Safety of the scam.  There is a “Bristol County Sheriff’s Office” in Massachusetts, however, that office has been contacted and calls of this nature do not come from that office.  

2013-10-08_Jury_Duty_Scam .pdf – full press release

The Smithfield Police Department is proud to announce that it has been awarded “Accreditation with Excellence” status by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA). The award was presented in a ceremony at the most recent CALEA Conference, held in Charleston, SC, on March 23rd, 2013. Present for the ceremony and accepting the award on behalf of the Department were Police Chief Richard St. Sauveur, Jr., Deputy Police Chief Robert VanNieuwenhuyze, and Patrol Officer Dennis Courtemanche. The Smithfield Police Department has maintained national accreditation since 2001, an ongoing process that requires the agency to meet or exceed over four hundred professional, law enforcement standards covering every facet of its administration and operations.

“Excellence” status is awarded only to those agencies that meet specific criteria set forth by CALEA, and have demonstrated excellence in the following areas: development and implementation of contemporary policy and procedure; ability to use the accreditation process as a tool for continuous organizational improvement; collection, review, and analysis of organizational data for the purpose of public safety improvement; addressing the intent of accreditation standards, beyond compliance; has demonstrated advocacy for accreditation as a strategy for enhancing the professional standing of public safety; and has demonstrated an organizational culture supportive of accreditation. The Smithfield Police Department is currently only one of two Rhode Island law enforcement agencies to be awarded Accreditation with Excellence status, and one of only six agencies in New England.

For more information regarding CALEA, its programs, and a list of those agencies that are nationally accredited, please visit www.calea.org.

(L – R: Executive Director Sylvester Daughtry,Jr., Patrol Officer Dennis Courtemanche, Deputy Chief Robert VanNieuwenhuyze, Chief Richard P. St.Sauveur, Jr., & Commissioner Louis Dekmar)