The rhode island department of public safety, public safety grant administration office (PSGAO) serves as the state administering agency for grant programs and initiatives from the U.S. Department…

The Rhode Island Department of Public Safety (RI DPS) was awarded a $667,596 Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics under the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) (CFDA 16.554). The funding will be used to support several projects, including:

1. Upgrading the Rhode Island State Police (RISP) network infrastructure by purchasing and installing new core redundant network switches and network switch devices at various RISP facilities. 2) Acquiring a software product for conducting in-state audits, and 3) Upgrading the existing RISP facilities access control systems. Additionally, the Rhode Island Judiciary will perform data entry to update court dispositions and conduct overtime sessions to synchronize data systems for tracking no-contact orders. Several local police departments will also purchase and replace their LiveScan fingerprinting devices. The award has a performance period from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2026.

The rhode island department of public safety, public safety grant administration office (PSGAO) serves as the state administering agency for grant programs and initiatives from the U.S. Department of justice. For the last two years, the PSGAO has been working to increase capacity and better engage with stakeholders across the entire spectrum of criminal justice activities in the state of rhode island. These efforts have resulted in better coordination with all program partners and raised awareness of the availability nchip funding for eligible entities that have not participated in the program in the recent past. The department of public safety will use funds to support the following projects for rhode island state polices (RISP) technical services area: 1) purchase, configure and install new rilets core redundant network switches and new network switch devices at lincoln barracks, the state data center, and the headquarters gaming unit; 2) purchase a software product, provided by peak performance, designed for in-state audits; and, 3) upgrade the existing RISP facilities access control systems. Rhode island judiciary will perform data entry work to update final court dispositions. The supreme court will conduct twelve (16) overtime sessions and the district court will conduct six (6) overtime sessions. The rhode island judiciary will also conduct additional overtime sessions to sync the data in the system that manages the tracking of no-contact orders statewide (RONCO/BCI) with the judiciarys internal case management system (ODYSSEY). Several local police departments will purchase and replace their end-of-life livescan fingerprinting device. PSGAO will retain a portion of the award to conduct program coordination and grant management activities.