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State v. Ceraso12/27/2002
e officers who have a citizen in their lawful custody be not deterred from acting to protect the well-being of such person, particularly in circumstances arising out of an emergency such as existed in the instant case." Cioci, 99 R.I. at 315, 207 A.2d at 304.
Similar principles were enunciated in Locke, wherein a Charlestown police officer arrested Locke on probable cause to believe that he was intoxicated. The officer then transported the defendant to Westerly to administer a breathalyzer test because the town of Charlestown did not have breathalyzer equipment. The Court followed the reasoning in Cioci and held that the officer acted reasonably "to protect the public from a drunken driver and to protect Locke from himself." Locke, 418 A.2d at 847.
In the case at bar, the Legislature has made specific provisions for the cooperation of police officers who are from different municipalities in emergency situations where such cooperation requires the empowerment of the officers from another municipality to assist in maintaining the public safety. Certainly, no more dramatic example could be set forth of the need for cooperation by officers of an adjoining municipality to render assistance in maintaining order and protecting the safety of persons imperiled by an accident and fire on a bridge that joins the two communities. This is a classic example of the result which the Legislature intended to accomplish. Such intent should not be frustrated by demanding, unnecessary formalisms. Sergeant Donovan was clearly the designee of the Jamestown Police Chief and was in charge in the midst of an emergency situation. He accepted the cooperation of Sgt. Field and Lt. Kliever. The defendant's argument that the Newport officers lacked jurisdiction, pursuant to § 45-42-1 is without merit.
Conclusion
For the reasons stated, the appeal of the defendant is denied and dismissed. The judgment of conviction and the sentence imposed in the Superior Court are hereby affirmed. The papers in the case may be remanded to the Superior Court
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