Gov. McKee: State to send 3 troopers to patrol Block Island this summer, cover cost

Block Island is losing its police chief as the summer tourism season kicks into gear, but the McKee administration is sending reinforcements from the Rhode Island State Police.

Gov. Dan McKee told reporters - at a wide-ranging press conference on Thursday - that the state is sending three troopers to the island, one of whom will serve as the interim police chief.

"The state will cover the cost of the interim chief as well as the two officers,'' said McKee, noting the Town Council did not agree to a proposed cost-sharing agreement. "We'll continue to talk to them," the governor said.

It is not yet clear which troopers will get the summer island assignment and how they will be selected.

The move follows the announcement on Tuesday that Matthew C. Moynihan, the police chief for New Shoreham since 2021, has been appointed police chief in South Kingstown..

Moynihan, who served with the Rhode Island State Police for 24 years before taking the job on Block Island, will be sworn in to his new job on June 26, South Kingstown Town Manager James M. Manni announced Tuesday afternoon.

The announcement of Moynihan's imminent departure came at a point Block Island was still trying to resolve whether it would get help from the state police in patrolling the island this summer.

The town has in the past received seasonal help from the state police at no cost, but the Town Council last month refused the state's request to pay $45,000 to help pay for two troopers on weekends, the Block Island Times reported.

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Block Island has 1,500 year-round residents and can host some 20,000 visitors a day in the summer, according to Town Councilor Keith Stover.

"You can imagine the stress it puts on our budget," Stover said.

New Shoreham officials were at that point still in talks with Gov. Dan McKee and Rhode Island State Police Col. Darnell S. Weaver about getting state police help this summer, according to Stover.

"I'm quite confident in the direction we're moving," Stover said Wednesday, declining to offer specifics.

Stover also said that Moynihan has done a good job planning and is leaving the department in good shape. The department has four regular officers, and a recent increase in the budget will allow it to add officers and assign two officers to each shift for the first time, Stover said.

Moynihan has been "terrific here. I'm thrilled for him," Stover said.

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Manni called Moynihan "a forward-thinking and innovative law enforcement leader. I’ve known him for the better part of 25 years, and I have a great deal of respect for his professionalism and leadership."

Manni is also a former member of the Rhode Island State Police, having served as colonel from 2019 until stepping down to take the town manager post, effective May 2.

Moynihan called his new post "a dream job." He and his wife moved to South Kingstown 23 years ago and raised their family in the town, he said.

jperry@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7614

On Twitter: @jgregoryperry

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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: McKee agrees to send troopers to Block Island, state to cover cost