Warwick Police Department

In 1906, Theodore S. Andrews became Warwick's first Chief of Police.  Prior to that time, sheriffs and deputy sheriffs were given the job of keeping the peace and directing the constables in the various sections of town.

With the increasing presence of automobiles and labor disputes developing in local mills, the need to establish a permanent police force was evident.  In 1913, the Rhode Island legislature required "Police Commissioners" in the municipalities and Warwick to have a police force which consisted of more than "special constables" at Rocky Point (a summer recreational area) or at the mills.  Warwick's permanent police force was established in 1921.

Newspaper accounts revealed that there were "no day patrolmen and only six men were on duty at night".  An early member of the force of the 1920's recalled that at that time, there were no police cars and the officers had to user their own vehicles. "There was a lot of nothing between villages".

Since it was incorporated as a city in 1931, the Warwick Police Department has grown to a complement of 178 officers supported by 59 civilian employees serving Rhode Island's second largest city.