NORTH SMITHFIELD – Members of the North Smithfield Police Department are clarifying claims about their response to an incident. The department issued the following statement:
“It has come to the attention of the department that a Facebook post shared on the ‘Our Town North Smithfield’ page has created concern among some of the citizens in our town regarding the Police Department’s level of response to the reported incident. We would like to use this as an opportunity to provide some clarifying facts and illuminate the dangers of false information being spread via social media,” they stated.
The following paragraphs describe the verifiable facts of the incident as it was reported to the department, they said:
“On Sept. 4, 2026, a call was received by our dispatch at 5:59 p.m. from a blocked number. The caller, who identified himself as “LJ,” reported a suspicious vehicle in which narcotic activity was taking place. The calling party provided a vehicle location in the parking lot, as well as the registration for the vehicle. It should be noted that the calling party became confrontational when dispatch requested their full name and a callback number.”
They added, “At 6:03pm, an officer arrived on scene and located the vehicle, at which time he made contact with the male subject inside the vehicle. At 6:05 p.m., a second officer arrived to assist with the investigation.”
During conversation with the male subject, said police, “officers at no time observed any identifiable signs of narcotics usage, to include the odor of narcotics, the presence of narcotics paraphernalia, or behavior indicative of impairment from the male subject they were speaking with. Officers then radioed dispatch inquiring if the calling party would be willing to speak with them in order to corroborate the information reported to our department, at which time dispatch advised the officers that the calling party would not speak with police.”
They added, “At this time, an officer searched the area for the calling party, only locating two adults in the area who both indicated that they had not called the police, nor witnessed any narcotic usage. The calling party did callback a second time, again from a blocked number, but disconnected with our dispatcher before our dispatcher could ask any clarifying questions.”
Based on the facts received by the officers on scene, they said, “they had no probable cause, nor reasonable articulable suspicion to investigate the incident any further. It was learned during the investigation that the male subject, who had been reported to be using narcotics, is currently in conflict with another individual who has previously provided false information to both the North Smithfield Police Department, as well as the North Smithfield Fire Department.”
The departments wants to ensure the public that we take these matters seriously, and investigate incidents of this nature in accordance with Rhode Island General Law, Constitutional Law, and Department Policy and Procedure, said police.
