Rhode Island spends substantially more on police and fire protection than most states. Funded largely through local revenues, these expenditures are key drivers of the property tax burden of Rhode Island residents and businesses. The taxpayer burden varies considerably across communities, reflecting differences in how these services are delivered and wide variations in staffing, compensation, overtime, and pension costs.
RIPEC’s report examines police and fire spending in national and regional context, across Rhode Island’s cities and towns, and over the past five years.
Download the executive summary here.
Key Takeaways
- Fire protection spending ranked first nationally per capita and relative to personal income in FY 2024.
- Police protection spending ranked in the top ten—ninth per capita and sixth relative to personal income.
- Police and fire protection accounted for 25.8% of municipal spending in FY 2024, with police and fire spending growing at roughly the same rate as overall municipal expenditures since FY 2019.
- High spending does not appear to reflect higher levels of crime or fire activity. Rhode Island had the fourth-lowest violent crime rate and third-lowest property crime rate among U.S. states in 2024. Fire-related calls accounted for only about 2% of fire department call volume in 2023, while emergency medical services (EMS) calls were about 70%.
- Rhode Island ranked first nationally in professional firefighters per capita in 2025, with nearly twice as many as the U.S. overall, which relies more heavily on volunteer firefighters, while Rhode Island’s median firefighter salary ranked 12th highest. Police staffing levels were closer to national and regional benchmarks, with Rhode Island’s median police officer salary ranking 20th among states.
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The burden of police and fire protection varies widely across communities. Combined spending exceeded $1,000 per capita in nine communities—Newport, Johnston, New Shoreham, Narragansett, Warwick, Cranston, Smithfield, Providence, and East Greenwich—but was below $500 in six: West Greenwich, South Kingstown, Richmond, Bristol, Foster, and Exeter.
- Twenty municipalities have exclusively professional fire departments. Fire spending exceeded police spending in 13 of these communities.
- Pension costs accounted for 28.6% of fire spending and 22.9% of police spending in FY 2024. Pension expenditures exceeded $50,000 per active member in ten communities, eight of which had a pension plan in critical status (<60% funded).
Recommendations
- Slow the growth of expenditures on fire protection.
- Slow the growth of police expenditures.
- Require greater transparency and reporting related to police and fire protection.
- Avoid state mandates that limit municipalities’ financial flexibility without careful consideration of their costs.
- Explore options to constrain or reduce police and fire pension costs.
