(a)  Any police officer may take an individual into protective custody and take or cause the person to be taken to an emergency room of any hospital, by way of emergency vehicle, if the officer has reason to believe that:

(1)  The individual is in need of immediate care and treatment, and is one whose continued unsupervised presence in the community would create an imminent likelihood of serious harm by reason of psychiatric disability if allowed to be at liberty pending examination by a licensed physician; or

(2)  The individual is in need of immediate assistance due to psychiatric disability and requests the assistance.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 40.1-5-7.1

  • Care and treatment: means psychiatric care, together with such medical, nursing, psychological, social, rehabilitative, and maintenance services as may be required by a patient in association with the psychiatric care provided pursuant to an individualized treatment plan recorded in the patient's medical record. See Rhode Island General Laws 40.1-5-2
  • Likelihood of serious harm: means :

    (i)  A substantial risk of physical harm to the person himself or herself as manifested by behavior evidencing serious threats of, or attempts at, suicide;

    (ii)  A substantial risk of physical harm to other persons as manifested by behavior or threats evidencing homicidal or other violent behavior; or

    (iii)  A substantial risk of physical harm to the mentally disabled person as manifested by behavior that has created a grave, clear, and present risk to the person's physical health and safety. See Rhode Island General Laws 40.1-5-2

  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
  • Physician: means a person licensed by the Rhode Island department of health to practice medicine pursuant to chapter 37 of Title 5. See Rhode Island General Laws 40.1-5-2
  • Psychiatric disability: means a mental disorder in which the capacity of a person to exercise self-control or judgment in the conduct of the person's affairs and social relations, or to care for the person's own personal needs, is significantly impaired. See Rhode Island General Laws 40.1-5-2

(b)  The officer making the determination to transport will document the reason for the decision in a police report and travel with the individual to the hospital to relay the reason for transport to the attending medical staff.

History of Section.
P.L. 2017, ch. 387, § 2; P.L. 2017, ch. 428, § 2; P.L. 2022, ch. 231, art. 11, § 7, effective June 27, 2022.