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Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management — Division of Law Enforcement / Environmental Police 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.
Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management — Division of Law Enforcement / Environmental Police starts at $90,850 a year — about $43.68 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $24,165 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $25,684 above the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Rhode Island run about 2% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $88,825 somewhere at average prices — $2,025 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 isRhode Island Department of Environmental Management — Division of Law Enforcement / Environmental Police reported 32 sworn officers and 11 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025.No rate is shown: this agency does not police a single population the FBI publishes a figure for. 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 Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management — Division of Law Enforcement / Environmental says about itself
The mission of the Division of Law Enforcement (DLE) is to protect the natural resources of The State of Rhode Island and to ensure compliance with all environmental conservation laws through law enforcement and education.
What Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management — Division of Law Enforcement / Environmental does
Rhode Island DEM's Division of Law Enforcement employs Environmental Police Officers responsible for statewide natural-resource and environmental law enforcement. State classification materials require police academy standards, firearms qualification, law-enforcement training and powers-of-arrest experience within the Environmental Police hierarchy.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Rhode Island Office of Management and Budget — FY2027 Budget, Volume IV; Rhode Island DEM staff/classification records — open the source document
$90,850.17. FY2027 budget published January 2026; current staff/classification information verified 8 August 2026
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 Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management — Division of Law Enforcement / Environmental 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. Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management — Division of Law Enforcement / Environmental starts at $90,850, so $25,684 above the state middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management — Division of Law Enforcement / Environmental Police officer make?
Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management — Division of Law Enforcement / Environmental Police starts a new officer on $90,850 a year, about $43.68 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 Rhode Island Office of Management and Budget — FY2027 Budget, Volume IV; Rhode Island DEM staff/classification records.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Rhode Island?
It ranks #1 of 17 agencies we have verified in Rhode Island — the highest in the state in the state — and #249 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $24,165 above, and against other state agencies $25,684 above.
Compare with another department
Put Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management — Division of Law Enforcement / Environmental Police 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 Rhode | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Smithfield Police Department | Municipal | 46 | $82,885 | −$7,965 | #407 |
| 3 | Rhode Island State Police | State | 267 | $81,579 | −$9,271 | #437 |
| 4 | Providence Police Department | Municipal | 435 | $81,468 | −$9,382 | #441 |
| 5 | North Providence Police Department | Municipal | — | $71,787 | −$19,063 | #829 |
| 6 | Burrillville Police Department | Municipal | 24 | $70,484 | −$20,366 | #908 |
| 7 | East Providence Police Department | Municipal | 86 | $69,155 | −$21,696 | #983 |
| 8 | Lincoln Police Department | Municipal | 40 | $69,000 | −$21,850 | #991 |
| 9 | Pawtucket Police Department | Municipal | 145 | $66,402 | −$24,448 | #1,167 |
| 10 | Warwick Police Department | Municipal | 169 | $65,739 | −$25,111 | #1,204 |
| 11 | North Kingstown Police Department | Municipal | — | $65,012 | −$25,838 | #1,255 |
| 12 | Portsmouth Police Department | Municipal | 39 | $64,358 | −$26,492 | #1,297 |
| 13 | Cranston Police Department | Municipal | 147 | $63,309 | −$27,541 | #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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