On Wednesday, July 10th, 2019, at 5:00 p.m., Shield616 will be at the Smithfield Police Department to announce the donation of ten Angel Armor rifle rated vests with Revision level IIIA ballistic helmets to ten Smithfield Police Officers. Shield616 is a non-profit group, based out of Colorado, dedicated to providing first responders with essential protective equipment. Shield616 works with local individuals, businesses, churches, and foundations to assist in acquiring this equipment to help keep first responders safe. Thanks to a generous donation by Renewal by Andersen Window Replacement, ten Smithfield Police Officers will soon receive this life-saving equipment.

Jake Skifstad, the founder of Shield616, will be present at the press event to display the type of equipment that these officers will soon have issued to them and to explain the benefits of Angel Armor’s lightweight design that maintains the strength to stop a rifle round.

The press event will be held in the Sergeant Norman G. Vezina Community & Training Room at the Smithfield Police Department, 215 Pleasant View Avenue. For further inquiries, contact Captain Jason A. DiGrado, Smithfield Police Department, at (401) 231-2500 (ext. 105). Information on Shield616 is also available at shield616.org.

Smithfield Police Department’s K9 Ajax to get donation of body armor

Smithfield Police Department’s K9 Ajax will receive a bullet and stab protective vest thanks to a charitable donation from non-profit organization Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. K9 Ajax’s vest is sponsored by a fundraiser hosted by the Gray Recreation Department in Gray, ME and will be embroidered with the sentiment “This gift of protection provided by Gray Recreation Dept.”. Delivery is expected within eight to ten weeks.

Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. is a 501c (3) charity located in East Taunton, MA whose mission is to provide bullet and stab protective vests and other assistance to dogs of law enforcement and related agencies throughout the United States. The non-profit was established in 2009 to assist law enforcement agencies with this potentially lifesaving body armor for their four-legged K9 officers. Since its inception, Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. provided over 3,100 protective vests, in 50 states, through private and corporate donations, at a value of $5.7 million dollars.

The program is open to dogs actively employed in the U.S. with law enforcement or related agencies who are certified and at least 20 months of age. New K9 graduates, as well as K9s with expired vests, are eligible to participate.

The donation to provide one protective vest for a law enforcement K9 is $950.00. Each vest has a value between $1,744 – $2,283 and a five-year warranty, and an average weight of 4-5 lbs. There is an estimated 30,000 law enforcement K9s throughout the United States. For more information or to learn about volunteer opportunities, please call 508-824-6978. Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. provides information, lists events, and accepts tax-deductible donations of any denomination at www.vik9s.org or mailed to P.O. Box 9 East Taunton, MA 02718.

Effective Thursday, May 4^th, 2017, at 8:00 a.m., the Smithfield Police Department will begin using a phone menu system for incoming calls to its main telephone number, (401) 231-2500. The system will be active Monday – Friday, from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.  Individuals calling the main telephone number during these hours will hear a menu system, and will be prompted to have their calls directed to a police dispatcher or particular division or employee.

For all other hours, incoming calls will not go through the phone menu system, and will go directly to a police dispatcher.

During the course of a shift, especially the day shift, police dispatchers have had to answer many, many administrative type telephone calls that distract them from their primary responsibility of monitoring radio transmissions and attending to the needs of officers handling emergency calls for service. The new phone menu system will reduce our dispatchers’ workload and keep them alert to more pressing police matters.

It is anticipated that use of this phone menu system will result in increased police department efficiency and improved caller satisfaction.   

Smithfield Police Department Announces New Shoulder Patch Design

Police Chief Richard P. St.Sauveur, Jr., has announced that the police department will be changing its shoulder patch design and replacing the design that has been worn since 1973.

The new shoulder patch is shaped as a shield, which is a very popular law enforcement patch shape. It prominently displays three blacksmith hammers, which were included on the original Town seal, and appear on the current Town seal. According to the Town’s website, these blacksmith hammers have come to represent the villages of Greenville, Georgiaville, and Esmond. The new patch also includes the year “1950,” as this was the year in which a permanent police force was established in Smithfield.

The colors of the new shoulder patch have very specific meaning. The patch is bordered in Black to signify the mourning of the loss of our brother and sister officers, who have made the ultimate sacrifice protecting their communities. The police profession is typically associated with the color Blue. As such, the blue within the patch represents law enforcement and the many dedicated officers serving their communities every day. The Black & Blue colors, side-by-side throughout the patch, are intended to symbolize the universally accepted colors of the National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial mourning band and ribbon. “Smithfield Police” is purposely colored in White, as white signifies the purity, peace, and calm that is expected of our police officers. White also represents the color of protection. The Gold signifies optimism, confidence, higher ideals, wisdom, understanding, generosity, giving, and compassion. These are qualities and characteristics that we expect from Smithfield Police Officers.

The “official” Smithfield Police Department shoulder patch and logo will contain the color gold. This patch will be worn by all officers holding the ranks of Lieutenant through Police Chief, as these officers’ uniforms are trimmed in gold. The ranks of Patrol Officer and Sergeant will wear a patch that replaces gold with silver, as their uniforms are trimmed in silver.

The Smithfield Police Department will begin wearing the new shoulder patch in April.

The Smithfield Police Department continues to meet or exceed national standards in law enforcement, as set forth by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA), recently earning its fifth reaccreditation award. In March of 2013, the Department was awarded “Accreditation with Excellence” status, and in November of 2015, voluntarily underwent CALEA’s “Gold Standard” Assessment. The Gold Standard Assessment “focuses primarily on processes and outcomes associated with standards specific to agency policies. In short, it works to measure the impact of accreditation as opposed to simply confirming compliance through a file-by-file review.”

At the March 2016 CALEA Conference, held in St. Louis, Missouri, the Police Chief and Accreditation Manager appeared before the Commission, which unanimously voted in favor of the Department’s reaccreditation. The Smithfield Police Department has been accredited since 2001, and currently complies with 328 mandatory, and 75 other-than-mandatory standards, as part of CALEA’s Advanced Law Enforcement Accreditation Program.

In photo, left to right: CALEA Executive Director W. Craig Hartley, Jr., Police Chief Richard P. St. Sauveur, Jr., Deputy Police Chief Robert W. VanNieuwenhuyze, CALEA Commissioner Richard W. Myers.

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)