2023 -- H 5244

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LC000813

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

CONGRATULATING PROVIDENCE POLICE CHIEF HUGH T. CLEMENTS JR., ON

BEING APPOINTED TO DIRECT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S COMMUNITY

POLICING PROGRAMS AND THANKING HIM FOR MORE THAN THIRTY-SEVEN

YEARS OF DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC SERVICE TO THE CITIZENS OF PROVIDENCE

AND THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Representatives Hull, Shekarchi, Blazejewski, J. Lombardi, Costantino,
Slater, Felix, Batista, DeSimone, and Perez

     Date Introduced: January 26, 2023

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, Police Chief Hugh Clements began his exemplary law enforcement career in

1985, when he was appointed to serve on the Providence Police Department as a night Patrol

Officer in the Uniform Division, and later on the Neighborhood Response Team Uniformed Task

Force before being transferred to the Special Investigations Bureau and the Department's Vice

and Drug Unit. Thanks to his strong work ethic and superior policing skills, Chief Clements

steadily rose through the ranks; and

     WHEREAS, In 1990, Chief Clements was promoted to the rank of Detective and

returned to the night squad. In 1992, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and served for three

years as a night Sergeant, before being transferred to the Detective Bureau where he spent the

next seven years supervising the investigation of all major crimes; and

     WHEREAS, In 2002, Chief Clements was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and

transferred to the midnight shift of the Patrol Bureau. He was later assigned to serve as the

District 5 Commander, where he embraced the department’s philosophy of community policing.

Under his leadership numerous innovative and creative initiatives were carried out. He was later

transferred back to the Detective Bureau, and in late 2008, he was promoted to the rank of

Captain and became responsible for all major crimes operations in the Investigative Division; and

     WHEREAS, Chief Clements was promoted to the rank of Major in 2008, serving for one

year as the Commander of the Homeland Security Division, before being reassigned to serve as

the Commanding Officer of the Uniform Division. He later served as the Deputy Chief and was

appointed Acting Chief of Police in July of 2011, before being appointed the 37th Chief of the

Providence Police Department and promoted to the rank of Colonel. In his more than eleven years

of meritorious service as Providence’s Police Chief, he has received almost unanimous praise

from all quarters for his abiding integrity, tireless work ethic, strong leadership and

communicative skills, and his notable desire to connect with the average citizen living in the

neighborhoods of Providence; and

     WHEREAS, Chief Clements holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the

University of Rhode Island, a Bachelor of Science degree in the Administration of Justice from

Roger Williams University, and a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Boston

University. He has also attended numerous specialty schools including the New York State Police

Williams Homicide School, the Illinois State Police Supervisor’s School, the ATF National Gang

School, and graduated in 2005 from the Leadership RI Alpha11 Class and the Senior

Management Institute for Police from the Harvard Kennedy School at Boston University; and

     WHEREAS, Chief Clements has received numerous commendations including receiving

the Chiefs Award three times, awards from the FBI, Attorney General’s Office, ATF and other

police agencies, and several awards for his participation in a RICO Latin King investigation; and

     WHEREAS, As a result of Chief Clements decades of distinguished public service, he

has been appointed by the United States Attorney General to direct the federal government's

community policing programs within the Department of Justice with the mission of strengthening

the trust between police officers and the public. Chief Clements is the beloved husband of Donna

and the devoted father of Kayleigh and Kourtney; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

thanks Chief Hugh T. Clements, Jr., for his more than thirty-seven years of devoted and dedicated

service as a law enforcement officer and public servant and wishes him well with his new duties

and responsibilities as the Director of the federal government’s community policing programs;

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 Chief Hugh T. Clements, Jr.

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