About Charlestown Police Department
As Chief of Police, it is my great pleasure to personally welcome you to the Charlestown Police Department website. We are a Rhode Island Police Accreditation Commission (RIPAC) accredited, community policing agency that stresses professionalism and fairness. Our members take great pride in their organization and embrace the agency core values of honesty, integrity, trust, respect, loyalty and service orientation every day. The personnel of the Charlestown Police Department, both sworn and civilian, are proud to be a part of one of the finest police departments in the country. Our most important goal is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the citizens of Charlestown. We are committed to providing the highest level of police service to our citizens and visitors.
This website is one of the ways we strive to assure efficient communication with the citizens we serve. Please take a moment to explore our website. We encourage you to learn more about our organization and the many services we offer. I believe you will find this website to be a valuable resource and a thought-provoking glimpse into the perspective of how this agency conducts itself and the resources we afford to the public. We look forward to serving you.
Michael J. Paliotta
Chief of Police
Core Values
Vision & Mission
The Charlestown Police Department will exist to preserve liberty, enhance the safety of the community and defend human dignity. We will be an organization in which each employee embraces integrity as the cornerstone upon which the public trust is built. We will foster an environment of honesty, trust and mutual respect in which the Department and the community work together as catalysts for positive change.
We strive to be recognized for our strong service orientation, progressive development of all our human resources and our application of emerging technologies. We will embody the values of the Department and reflect these values in the performance of our duties. We will continue to build upon this vision through open communication and accessibility.
The Mission of the Charlestown Police Department is to provide the community with the highest quality of law enforcement services. We endeavor to improve the public's awareness of our community safety through eradication of criminal activity and conditions that have a detrimental impact on public safety.
We strive to enhance our tradition of excellent service to all. We continue to seek support and cooperation from the community we serve and from those of us who serve the community. Our organizational culture is responsive to new ideas and is one in which all employees are given the opportunity to develop to their highest potential and see themselves as agents of change. We base all our relationships on the premise that the public and police are one.
Divisions
Lt. Philip B. Gingerella Sr.
Police Beats Map
The Patrol Operations Division of the Charlestown Police Department is staffed by a total of sixteen (16) full time sworn police officers. The division is comprised of one (1) Lieutenant serving in the capacity of Patrol Operations Division Commander, four (4) Sergeants serving in the capacity of Patrol Shift Supervisors and eleven (11) Patrol Officers on various patrol shifts. The Lieutenant works an administrative schedule, the Sergeants and Patrol Officers work one of three duty shifts to include 7AM - 3PM (days), 3PM - 11PM (evenings) and 11PM – 7AM (nights). All patrol shifts have minimum manning coverage throughout the year consisting of three (3) officers per duty shift from May - September and two (2) officers per duty shift from September through April.
The Patrol Operations Division is responsible to responds to all emergency and routine calls for service, conduct traffic enforcement and random patrols and to provide all aspect of law enforcement services to the community. In addition they assist the other law enforcement agencies having jurisdiction within areas of the Town of Charlestown to include, the Rhode Island DEM Environmental Police, the Rhode Island State Police, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Narragansett Indian Tribal Police. Our highly trained and well educated law enforcement officers are ready (24) twenty four hours a day, seven (7) days a week to respond and investigate any and all police related matter. They deliver services with pride, integrity and professionalism.
The Patrol Operations Division also contains all elements of the Charlestown Emergency Dispatch Center. This unit is staffed by four (4) full-time emergency dispatchers, one (1) part-time dispatcher and several per-diem dispatchers. The Emergency Dispatch Center is routinely staffed with one (1) emergency dispatcher per shift unless extraordinary circumstances dictate additional staffing. The communications section is supervised by the Patrol Shift Supervisors and managed by the Patrol Operations Division Lieutenant.
The Charlestown Emergency Dispatch Center is the primary answering point and dispatching service for all emergency and 911 calls for service in the Town of Charlestown. The Charlestown Emergency Dispatch Center provides twenty four (24) hour emergency dispatch services for the Charlestown Police Department, Charlestown Ambulance-Rescue Service and the Charlestown Fire Department. Our dispatch center works closely with all neighboring emergency dispatch services and departments, including all state and federal agencies. Our highly trained and educated emergency dispatchers are always ready to handle any type of emergency situation.
The Patrol Operations Division contains an additional twenty (20) part time sworn and non-sworn police reserve personnel referred to as Special Police Officers (SPO) and Traffic Constables (TC). They assist in event security and public safety, emergency operations and highway traffic direction and control throughout the year.
The Patrol Operations Division contains all elements of the department’s training programs, police fleet and emergency vehicles, facilities maintenance, the Rhode Island Police Accreditation (RIPAC) program and several additional part time civilian staff.
Lt. David T. Westervelt
The Criminal Investigations Division of the Charlestown Police Department is staffed by three (3) full time sworn police officers. The division is comprised of one (1) Lieutenant serving in the capacity of Criminal Investigations Division Commander and two (2) Detectives assigned to various work shifts. All members of the Criminal Investigations Division work administrative schedules designed to maximize the availability of investigative staff during peak hours of agency operation. Detectives receive specialized training in criminal investigation techniques, evidence collections and processing, interview and interrogation, narcotics investigation and other related fields.
The Criminal Investigation Division’s primary role is to handle serious or complex cases requiring follow-up procedures beyond the normal capability of the Patrol Operations Division. The division investigates all major crimes assigned to it including vice, narcotics and juvenile offenses. In addition to its investigative function, the Criminal Investigations Division is responsible for all adult and juvenile prosecution in each of the regional court systems, the evidence and property handling and storage functions of the agency, management of the department (IT) technology, police records and archives, sex offender registration and background investigations.
The Criminal Investigations Division works closely with the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office and the Charlestown Town Solicitor(s) in the adjudication of criminal cases. The Criminal Investigations Division Lieutenant oversees all agency prosecution efforts within the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal, the Rhode Island District and Superior Court, the Rhode Island Family Court, the Charlestown Municipal Court and the Charlestown Juvenile Hearing Board. In addition the division oversees the records and archives function of the agency with the assistance of one (1) police secretary. The division handles Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR), criminal case discoveries, expungements, fingerprinting, the department’s grant programs, crime scene investigation (BCI) and maintenance of investigative equipment.
Members of the Criminal Investigations Division are well trained and educated law enforcement professionals ready to provide a high quality of police investigative services to the community.
History
The first Town Meeting of the newly incorporated Town of Charlestown was held on September 4th, 1738. At that meeting, the first Town Sergeant (Nathaniel Potter) and the first Town Constables (James York and John Kenyon Jr.) were elected.
No known documents exist referencing law enforcement in the Town of Charlestown from that first meeting in 1738 to the mid 1800’s. Town documents again begin showing the appointed “Constables” and/or “Town Sergeants” in Town Council records in 1876. Constables and Town Sergeants were appointed yearly by the sitting Town Council to deliver paperwork and monitor town roads for deficiencies.
In 1881, the Town Council began officially appointing 3 to 6 Constables and Town Sergeants a year as the town grew and more official duties were added to their responsibilities. There was no organized Police Department during this period and the Constables and Town Sergeants answered directly to the Town Council.
In 1912, the Town Council appointed a part-time Chief of Police to oversee the Constable and Town Sergeant responsibilities. Chief Robert P. Day, who had been a Constable for years, was appointed the first Chief of Police. From 1912 to 1931, the Town Council continued to appoint several Constables and Town Sergeants a year under the supervision of Chief Day.
In 1931, the Town Council official organized and established the Charlestown Police Department under the command of Chief Day. Records show the Town Council added a $900.00 funding line into the new budget for “Police Protection” and authorized the purchase of new police badges, supplies and uniforms. Chief Day continued to serve as Chief of Police for the newly organized Charlestown Police Department until 1943.
After serving 31 years as Chief of Police, Chief Day retired in 1943 and Octavio Panciera was appointed Chief of Police. Chief Panciera served as Chief of Police from 1944 to 1948. Very little is known about Chief Panciera. There are no known photographs of him or where he lived in town. He was replaced in 1949 by Chief Raymond Richards. Chief Panciera would do a short 2nd term as Chief of Police from 1951 to 1953 before Chief Richards took charge again in 1953 and remained Chief for another 23 years before retiring in 1976. During his tenure, Chief Richards was promoted to full-time making him the first full-time Charlestown Police Officer in 1961. In 1962, Chief Richards hired two full-time Police Officers bringing the department to three full-time Officers along with several part-time Officers.
Two high-ranking Rhode Island State Troopers, Captain Louis Clark and Lieutenant Richard Quinn would oversee the Police Department as Interim Police Chiefs in 1976 and 1977 before State Police Lieutenant Gerald DiChristofaro was appointed Chief of Police in 1977. Under Chief DiChristofaro’s term, the Charlestown Police Department hired several more full-time Police Officers, shifting the department to a full-time, 24-hour Police Department.
Narragansett Police Lieutenant Michael Brady, hired as Chief of Police in 1988, continued to increase the size of the Police Department to 18 full-time members before his retirement in 1998. Charlestown Police Sergeant Thomas Sharkey was promoted to Chief of Police in 1998 and oversaw the construction of the departments current Police Headquarters on Old Post Road across from Ninigret Park. During Chief Sharkey’s tenure, the department increased to 20 full-time Police Officers.
Charlestown Police Lieutenant Jack Shippee was promoted to Chief of Police in 2009 and served 3-years as Chief retiring in 2012. South Kingstown Police Captain Jeff Allen was hired as Chief of Police in 2012. Under Chief Allen’s tenure, the Charlestown Police Department received Rhode Island Police Accreditation status under the Rhode Island Police Accreditation Commission.
The current Police Department, under the command of Chief Michael Paliotta, consists of 21 full-time Police Officers, 8 part-time Police Officers, 5 Emergency Dispatchers, 15 Traffic Constables, 4 Harbormasters, 1 Animal Control Officer and 2 Administrative Assistants.