The overall mission of the East Providence Police Department is to create and maintain a proactive partnership with our residential and business communities in an effort to enhance public safety and reduce the fear and incidence of crime within the City of East Providence. The East Providence Police Department's primary objective is to improve the quality of life in our City by identifying and addressing public safety and community concerns. The East Providence Police Department recognizes the importance of working with the community at large to develop programs to meet this objective and is committed to accomplishing its mission in a professional manner that promotes respect and dignity of all people.
Detective Division
The Detective Division is responsible for the investigation of capital offenses, felony crimes, and crimes involving special circumstances coordination of multiple agencies and state resources such as the Attorney General’s Office and the State Crime Lab. Some of the types of cases the Detective Division will undertake are homicide, robbery, embezzlement, sexual assault, child molestation, and larcenies over $1,500 to name just a few.
The Detective Division is committed to timely and responsive follow-up investigations of reported crime, as well as proactive enforcement of criminal activity. In keeping with the Community Policing philosophy of the Department, the Detective Division is committed to solving crimes and to increasing public awareness by educating the citizens of our community on methods to better protect themselves from being victimized by crime.
There are five working units within the Detective Division:
1. Major Crimes (North and South)
2. Financial Crimes Unit
3. Juvenile Unit
4. Special Victims Unit
5. Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) Unit
Major Crimes Unit
The Unit is divided geographically into North and South Squads. Detective Corporals are assigned to investigate major crimes such as homicide, robbery, burglary, kidnapping, breaking and entering, and felony assaults. Detective Corporals routinely work together on cases in order to direct more time and resources at a case rapidly. Detective Corporals have access to numerous investigative websites and specific software which aid in their investigations. They also provide information to schools and businesses on how to better protect themselves from being a crime victim.
Financial Crimes Unit
The Unit has two Detective Corporals assigned to it and they divide the City geographically North and South. The types of crimes they investigate include embezzlement, forgery, credit card fraud, counterfeiting, identity theft and vehicle theft. Detectives have established working relationships with area banks, financial institutions, courier services, as well as state and federal agencies such as United States Postal Service, United States Secret Service, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A great amount of time is required on some cases that involve in-depth fraud and concealment of money.
Juvenile Crimes Unit
One Detective Corporal is assigned to investigate and assist in the prosecution of juvenile crimes. This Detective Corporal investigates all crimes that involve juvenile suspects and also works closely with the East Providence Police Dept.'s School Resource Officers. The Detective Corporal also prepares juvenile cases for introduction at Family Court for prosecution and works closely with the Attorney General’s office on all major cases. This Detective Corporal also has the ability to recommend juvenile cases to the City’s Juvenile Hearing Board, which he is the Department liaison to, that are less severe and can be handled outside of the State’s court system.
Special Victims Unit
Two Detective Corporals are assigned to the Special Victims Unit. One Detective Corporal is primarily assigned to track, monitor, and report on all the registered sex offenders that live with the City. This Detective Corporal works with members of the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office, Rhode Island State Police, and the Rhode Island Department of Corrections to certify sex offender addresses as well as enforcing strict residence and registration guidelines. The second Detective Corporal assigned to the unit investigates cases that involving sexual assaults, child abuse and child neglect. This Detective Corporal is specially trained in interviewing sexual assault victims, both adult and juvenile and works closely with members of the Attorney General’s Office, the Children's Advocacy Center, Family Services, and Dept. of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF).
Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI)
The Bureau of Criminal Identification is staffed by three Detective Corporals and one Detective Sergeant. They are all certified in the collection and analyzing of evidence from crime scenes. They are further certified in areas of bloodstains and splatter, reading and comparison of fingerprints, photography, trace evidence, and impressions. Detectives are called to crime scenes for their specific knowledge of evidence and the processing of a scene, in order to assist in the overall investigation of a crime. BCI Detectives work in conjunction with various local agencies and state agencies to include the Rhode Island State Crime Lab, Rhode Island Department of Health, and Rhode Island State Police. Detectives are also tasked with the preservation and storage of all collected evidence within the property room at the police station.
Detective Division Directory
To contact a detective or division clerk, enter the detective or clerk’s last name in the department directory located on the right hand side of the page.