Chapter 71

2003 -- S 0452

Enacted 6/27/03

AN ACT

RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- ASSAULTS

Introduced By: Senators Algiere, Blais, and Parella

Date Introduced: February 13, 2003

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 11-5-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-5 entitled "Assaults" is

hereby amended to read as follows:

11-5-5. Assault of police officers and other officials. -- Any person who shall make an

assault or battery, or both, by knowingly and willfully either (1) striking, or (2) spraying with a

noxious chemical, commonly used as a personal defense weapon, including Mace and an

oleoresin capsicum product or like products, a uniformed member of the state police or

metropolitan park police, conservation officer, environmental police officer, state properties

patrol officer, probation and parole officers, state government case worker or investigator, judge

of the supreme, superior, family, district court, traffic tribunal or municipal court, sheriff, deputy

sheriff, city or town police officer or firefighter, member of the Rhode Island state marshals of the

department of corrections, member of the capitol police, member of campus security force of

state colleges and universities, member of the Rhode Island airport police department, member of

the Rhode Island fugitive task force, Rhode Island public transit authority bus driver, or on-duty

plainclothes member of the town, city, or state police force, investigator of the department of the

attorney general appointed pursuant to section 42-9-8.1, or member of the railroad police after

proper identification is displayed, or uniformed dog officer, or out-of-state police officer called

into Rhode Island under a cooperative agreement to provide mutual aid at the request of the state

of Rhode Island pursuant to chapter 37 of title 42, or assistant attorney general or special assistant

attorney general, or employees of the department of environmental management responsible for

administrative inspections causing bodily injury while the officer or official is engaged in the

performance of his or her duty, shall be deemed to have committed a felony, and shall be

imprisoned not exceeding three (3) years, or fined not exceeding fifteen hundred dollars ($1,500),

or both.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.     

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LC02350

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