§ 12-6-7.2 - Warrant squad.
SECTION 12-6-7.2
§ 12-6-7.2 Warrant squad. – (a) There is established a statewide warrant squad which shall be known as theRhode Island state fugitive task force, whose purpose is to arrest individualsfor whom arrest warrants have been issued and remain outstanding.
(b) The warrant squad shall consist of a director, assistantdirector, additional members, whose title shall be task force agents, and thesheriffs and police officers that are provided for in this section.
(c) All state, county, local law enforcement and criminaljustice agencies may assign personnel to be members of the warrant squad toassist the director or assistant director. All personnel assigned to thewarrant squad during their normal work hours shall be paid their regular salaryby their respective departments and there shall be no reimbursement for thesepayments. The warrant squad shall be responsible for supervising the conduct ofall law enforcement officers employed by it pursuant to this chapter and thestate, and not the city or town, shall be liable for the actions of anymunicipal police officer which are committed on behalf of and under thedirection and supervision of the warrant squad.
(d) Federal, state and local officers assigned to the RhodeIsland state fugitive task force as fugitive investigators shall exercise thesame authority as the statutory agents appointed under this section as long asthe officer is under the direct supervision of the warrant squad. Theauthorization for local police officers acting under the authority of thisstatute shall be on file at the office of the Rhode Island state fugitive taskforce.
(e) The superintendent of the state police shall appoint thedirector, assistant director, and the members of the warrant squad. The salaryof the director and the assistant director shall be set by the department ofadministration in accordance with chapter 4 of title 36. The fees collected inthe amount of one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125) assessed to the arresteewhen apprehended and brought to court shall be deposited as general revenues.Each arrestee who has been apprehended shall be assessed the fee in the amountof one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125) in addition to any other court costsimposed. All fees collected shall be deposited as general revenues, anddistributed consistent with the provisions of § 12-6-7.1.
(f) The Providence county sheriff shall make suitable officefacilities available to the squad until the state police make suitable spaceavailable. The police departments of every city and town and the state policeshall make available to the squad temporary detention facilities. All feescollected shall be deposited as general revenues.
(g) The warrant squad shall be under the authority of, andreport to, the superintendent of the state police.
(h) The statewide warrant squad shall commence on September1, 1989, and all state and local police, law enforcement and criminal justiceagencies shall cooperate with the Rhode Island state fugitive task force incarrying out the provisions of this chapter.
(i) The Rhode Island state fugitive task force shall adoptand implement standards, policies, and regulations applicable to its scope andpurpose of locating and arresting fugitives from justice.
(j) Persons appointed as director, assistant director, andinspectors must have completed a basic course for police or law enforcementofficers at a certified federal (including military), state, or local lawenforcement training academy or must document a record of equivalent qualifyingexperience in an on-the-job training program. Persons appointed to be eitherdirector or assistant director, must, in addition to the preceding, have three(3) years of law enforcement experience and three (3) years of law enforcementmanagement or command experience or the equivalent.
(k) The director, the assistant director, and inspectors andofficers assigned on temporary duty to the Rhode Island state fugitive taskforce may carry firearms, apply for and execute search and arrest warrants andsubpoenas, serve summonses, and apply for court or grand jury process, and willhave statewide authority to serve warrants to locate and arrest persons who arefugitives or who have failed to appear in state court for violations of RhodeIsland general laws or court orders or who are fugitives located in RhodeIsland from jurisdictions outside the state of Rhode Island, and may makearrests without a warrant in the execution of court orders for any offensescommitted in their presence if they have reasonable grounds to believe that theperson to be arrested has committed or is committing a crime cognizable underRhode Island general laws.