2019 -- S 0531

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

HONORING WARWICK POLICE CHIEF STEPHEN MCCARTNEY ON HIS RETIREMENT

AND THANKING HIM FOR HIS FORTY-FIVE YEARS OF EXEMPLARY PUBLIC

SERVICE

     Introduced By: Senators McCaffrey, Lynch Prata, McKenney, Lombardi, and Algiere

     Date Introduced: March 13, 2019

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, Chief McCartney has devoted most of his life to public service. He had a

distinguished thirty-year Marine Corps career, retiring with the rank of Colonel. He was

commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1969 and served for twenty-two years in the infantry,

beginning with his service as a Platoon Commander with the 1st Marine Division in Vietnam in

1970 and 1971. During his distinguished military career, he held every infantry position from the

platoon level up to the regimental level; and

     WHEREAS, After transitioning to the United States Marine Corps Reserve, Colonel

McCartney served as the Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, 25th Marines, who were

assigned operationally to the 1st Marine Division and took part in combat operations in Saudi

Arabia and Kuwait in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991. Later, in 1997 and

1998, he volunteered to serve as an adjunct faculty member of the Naval Justice School and

served two tours in Rwanda, where he assisted the United States Embassy and the Rwandan

Government in teaching and training Rwandan law enforcement officials on how to investigate

homicides after nearly one million people were killed in the Rwandan Genocide; and

     WHEREAS, Colonel McCartney received numerous decorations during his exemplary

military career in recognition of his meritorious service to our nation including the Navy-Marine

Corps Medal for Heroism, the Navy Commendation & Achievement Medals, and the Combat

Action Ribbon with two gold stars. In 1999, he was awarded the Rhode Island Star by the State of

Rhode Island for his honorable service to our nation; and

     WHEREAS, In 1973, he joined the Providence Police Department and for twenty-six

years he steadily rose through the ranks thanks to his hard work, attention to detail, and ability to

lead those under his command. He served as Director of the City’s first mounted unit, as the

Director of Training, and as Commanding Officer of the Neighborhood Response Unit. He served

for eleven years with the Investigative Division, rising to the rank of Captain and Commanding

Officer before he was further promoted to the rank of Major and placed in charge of the entire

department, where he was responsible for more than 150 investigations, including the Operation

Checkmate investigation of the Latin Kings street gang; and

     WHEREAS, In 1999, Stephen McCartney was selected to be the Warwick Police Chief.

He took over a Department that had recently gone through hard times and Chief McCartney was

exactly the right person needed at that time. Immediately, the police officers under his command

as well as the elected officials in Warwick and the entire community were impressed by his

honesty and integrity as he set out to fix the problems and make everyone proud of the Warwick

Police Department. Due to recessions, he frequently faced budget shortfalls and a shortage of

officers, yet was still able to run an effective department thanks to the skillful way he reorganized

and redeployed personnel and his ability to find cost-effective ways to maximize the resources he

did have available to him; and

     WHEREAS, During his tenure, the Warwick Police Department continuously earned

esteemed CALEA re-accreditation. Earlier this month, WalletHub named Warwick the fifth safest

community in the nation overall and also ranked Warwick the fifth safest community in the

nation for the fewest assaults per capita. Thanks to his diligence and excellence, today Warwick

is a very safe city in which to live, visit, and operate a business; and

     WHEREAS, Chief McCartney received numerous awards in recognition of his sterling

police career including being recognized for outstanding achievement by the United States

Attorney for Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Office of Attorney General, the Federal Bureau of

Investigation, the United States Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Most importantly, he is held in the highest esteem by his local law enforcement colleagues.

Colonel Ann C. Assumpico, former Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, said of

Chief McCartney, "I trust him. I'd go through any type of war, any firefight, for him. He's the real

deal. He has great humility and that is a great trait." Providence Police Chief Hugh T. Clements,

Jr., who was a recruit when Chief McCartney ran the Providence Police Academy, and later

worked for him as a patrolman and a detective, said about Chief McCartney, "I have the utmost

respect for him as a police leader and a man. He's known statewide and regionally as a polished

leader and a man of integrity, and I consider him a mentor and a friend"; and

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     WHEREAS, Other honors awarded to Chief McCartney include the 2009 Public Service

Award from the Rhode Island Branch of the American Society for Industrial Security

Professionals, the Neil J. Houston, Jr, Memorial Award for Excellence in Criminal Justice, and

the 2010 Kent County Chamber of Commerce Service Award. In 2012, he was inducted into the

Rhode Island Criminal Justice Hall of Fame. He served as the President of the Rhode Island

Police Chief's Association in 2008, and has long been active with the Rhode Island Police Chief's

Association, the Warwick Rotary Club, and numerous other community groups and associations;

and

     WHEREAS, Chief McCartney will be sorely missed by the citizens of Warwick. His

honesty, abiding integrity, immense leadership abilities, and deep compassion for others were

admired by all who knew him; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby honors Warwick Police Chief Stephen McCartney for his forty-five years of exemplary

public service. We wish him a most happy retirement with his family, and continued success in

all his future endeavors; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Warwick Police Chief, Stephen McCartney.

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