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Portsmouth Police Department entry pay
What this agency pays a new officer to start, and how that compares with the rest of the country.
Entry pay onlyEvery salary here is what an officer is paid on day one, out of the academy — base pay on a 40-hour week, with no overtime, shift differential, specialty or education pay counted. Nobody stays on it.
Portsmouth Police Department starts at $64,358 a year — about $30.94 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $2,327 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $3,782 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Rhode Island run about 2% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $62,923 somewhere at average prices — $1,435 less than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 147, where goods are 97. Based on state-wide price levels, because this agency is not tied to a single metro area, from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. The salary above is what the employer publishes; this line is our arithmetic on it, and nothing on this site is ranked on it.
How big the department isPortsmouth Police Department reported 39 sworn officers and 2 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.3 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 17,253.A rate is only meaningful for a city department, where the population served is the city’s own. Reporting to the FBI is voluntary, so a count can reflect a partial return as easily as a small agency, and the FBI asks that agencies not be compared on staffing. Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Full-time Law Enforcement Employees, 2025.
What Portsmouth says about itself
The Portsmouth Police Department, when fully staffed, is comprised of 41 sworn officers (42 including the Prudence Island Public Safety Officer).
What Portsmouth does
The Portsmouth Police Department covers an Aquidneck Island town in Newport County and, when fully staffed, is 41 sworn officers - 42 counting the Prudence Island public safety officer - built around 19 patrol officers, six patrol sergeants, three patrol lieutenants, three detective inspectors and two school resource officers under a chief and deputy chief. It is accredited by the Rhode Island Police Accreditation Commission and nationally accredited by CALEA, and runs a crash investigation unit, a special response team with crisis negotiation, harbour patrols, a motorcycle unit, drone unit, firearms unit, drug recognition experts, a community policing unit, an honour guard and a comfort dog, with an outdoor range and on-site fitness facility
Where the figure comes from
Checked 6 September 2026. Portsmouth Police Department hiring flyer, published by the Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy — open the source document
The Department's own patrol officer hiring flyer of 18 February 2026, hosted by the Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy, read 6 September 2026: year 1 pay $64,358, year 2 $78,802 and $88,756 at three or more years. This is the entry flyer; Portsmouth publishes a separate lateral flyer for certified officers, so the figure is the no-experience rate. A $5,000 accreditation stipend and up to $5,000 in education stipend are listed separately and are excluded, as are the 13.5 paid holidays and longevity after five years
Entry-level base salary only. Overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift
differentials, locality pay and lateral rates are excluded, so most officers earn more
than this.
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How this level compares
Where Portsmouth sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.
| Level | Lowest | Median | Highest | Agencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Municipal | $33,280 | $68,140 | $163,619 | 1549 |
| County | $35,000 | $63,565 | $132,263 | 516 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,166 | $110,916 | 145 |
| Federal | $70,477 | $73,502 | $86,530 | 5 |
| Territory | $16,640 | $28,236 | $43,354 | 9 |
Federal agencies pay the most to start
The middle federal agency starts at $73,502 — about $5,400 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,900 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,300 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Portsmouth starts at $64,358, so $3,782 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Portsmouth Police Department officer make?
Portsmouth Police Department starts a new officer on $64,358 a year, about $30.94 an hour on a 2,080-hour year. That is base salary before overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift differentials and locality pay, so most serving officers earn more. The figure comes from Portsmouth Police Department hiring flyer, published by the Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Rhode Island?
It ranks #12 of 17 agencies we have verified in Rhode Island — 5 pay less, 11 pay more in the state — and #1,297 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $2,327 below, and against other municipal agencies $3,782 below.
Compare with another department
Put Portsmouth Police Department side by side with any other agency on the site — the two salaries, what each is worth once local prices are counted, and which comes out ahead.
The agencies either side of it
Other agencies in RI
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Portsmouth | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management — Division of Law Enforcement / Environmental Police | State | 32 | $90,850 | +$26,492 | #249 |
| 2 | Smithfield Police Department | Municipal | 46 | $82,885 | +$18,527 | #407 |
| 3 | Rhode Island State Police | State | 267 | $81,579 | +$17,221 | #437 |
| 4 | Providence Police Department | Municipal | 435 | $81,468 | +$17,110 | #441 |
| 5 | North Providence Police Department | Municipal | — | $71,787 | +$7,429 | #829 |
| 6 | Burrillville Police Department | Municipal | 24 | $70,484 | +$6,126 | #908 |
| 7 | East Providence Police Department | Municipal | 86 | $69,155 | +$4,797 | #983 |
| 8 | Lincoln Police Department | Municipal | 40 | $69,000 | +$4,642 | #991 |
| 9 | Pawtucket Police Department | Municipal | 145 | $66,402 | +$2,044 | #1,167 |
| 10 | Warwick Police Department | Municipal | 169 | $65,739 | +$1,381 | #1,204 |
| 11 | North Kingstown Police Department | Municipal | — | $65,012 | +$654 | #1,255 |
| 13 | Cranston Police Department | Municipal | 147 | $63,309 | −$1,049 | #1,364 |
Base pay is only part of the year
Whatever the figure above, the rotation is what decides your year — which weekends you lose, when the changeovers land, what you can plan around. Save yours once and BlueShifts shows it a year ahead, with the off-duty jobs you take and what each one paid.
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