2019 -- H 5490

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LC001422

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE -- SPECIAL POLICE FOR PRIVATE

INSTITUTIONS

     Introduced By: Representative Christopher R. Blazejewski

     Date Introduced: February 14, 2019

     Referred To: House Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 12-2.1-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 12-2.1 entitled "Special

Police for Private Institutions" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     12-2.1-2. Powers of special police officers.

     (a) Upon issuance of a license as a special police officer under § 12-2.1-1, the person so

designated as a special police officer shall have the same immunities and may exercise, in and

upon the lands and buildings of the institution by which he or she the special police officer is

employed, and upon streets and highways immediately adjacent to those lands the institution's

lands and buildings, the same powers and authority of a police officer as are conferred by the

laws of this state upon members of the division of state police, including the power to arrest

persons for violation of state criminal statutes or for violation of city or town ordinances of the

city or town in which the institution is located., for the purpose of protecting the institution's

lands and buildings, students, employees and visitors in and upon those lands and buildings.

     (b) If the institution has two (2) or more land areas or buildings separated by public or

private lands not owned by the institution, the special police officers appointed under § 12-2.1-1

shall also have jurisdiction in and upon the adjacent public street or highway corridors for travel

between the institution's properties. This jurisdiction is for the limited purpose of travel on those

public streets or highways between those land areas or buildings, and not for the exercise of the

powers and authority set forth in subsection (a) of this section, with the sole exception that those

powers and authority may be exercised if, in the course of that travel, the special police officer

views a person or persons in danger of imminent bodily harm.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE -- SPECIAL POLICE FOR PRIVATE

INSTITUTIONS

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     This act would set forth the jurisdiction of special police officers on educational

institutions and upon the land and buildings thereof and would clarify and limit their jurisdiction

to instances where the officer views a person or persons in danger of imminent bodily harm, on

public streets and highway corridors between land areas and/or buildings owned by these

educational institutions.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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