Block Island Coverage Starts With the Ferry Schedule
New Shoreham is an island town, and every assignment here is planned around how officers get there, where they stay and how long they are needed.
The Town of New Shoreham occupies all of Block Island, several miles off the South County coast. Nearly everything arrives by boat. Old Harbor is the main ferry landing and the commercial center, with hotels, inns, restaurants and shops along Water Street. New Harbor sits on the Great Salt Pond, where marinas and moorings fill with visiting boats in summer. Away from the two harbors the island is roads, stone walls, conserved land and private homes, many of them seasonal. The summer population and day-trip traffic are far larger than the year-round community, and in winter many businesses close and ferry service is reduced.
Because of that, island security is a separately planned assignment, not an extension of mainland routes. Officer staffing, ferry schedules, vehicle or on-island transportation, and lodging where a job runs more than a day all have to be arranged before coverage can be confirmed. Weather can cancel boats in any season. Mobile patrol from the mainland is not offered on the island. What works is coverage with defined dates: a wedding weekend, a holiday period, a seasonal contract for a hotel or marina, or a construction project with a known schedule.
Property Types in New Shoreham
Hotels, Inns & Hospitality
- Seasonal hotels and inns
- Restaurants and bars near Old Harbor
- Function lawns and reception venues
- Staff housing for seasonal employees
Harbors & Marinas
- Marinas on the Great Salt Pond
- Dock and launch areas
- Waterfront restaurants and decks
- Freight and delivery staging areas
Weddings & Private Events
- Tented weddings on private property
- Multi-day wedding weekends
- Holiday-weekend and regatta gatherings
Seasonal Homes & Projects
- Private homes and estates
- Off-season construction and renovation sites
- Properties closed for winter
Planning Considerations for New Shoreham Assignments
- Island assignments are planned separately — Staffing, ferry schedules, transportation, lodging where applicable and advance assignment planning all affect availability on Block Island. Coverage should be requested well ahead of the date; same-day or routine short-notice island deployment is not something to plan around.
- Weather and the boats — Ferry service is seasonal in its frequency and can be delayed or canceled by wind, sea conditions or fog. Multi-day assignments are scheduled with travel margin on both ends, and the plan should say what happens if a relief officer cannot cross.
- Lodging and on-island transport — Summer lodging is scarce and bringing a vehicle over requires its own ferry reservation. For assignments longer than a single shift, where officers stay and how they move between sites are part of the proposal, and clients who can provide staff housing should say so early.
- Crowds near the landings — Old Harbor is tightly built and fills quickly when boats arrive, and hospitality venues near the docks see their heaviest activity in the evening. Officers support venue staff on private property and do not replace licensed alcohol-service personnel or the town's police.
- Limited local backup — An island post cannot be reinforced quickly from the mainland. Post orders should be conservative about officer numbers, set clear thresholds for calling police, fire or rescue, and name an on-island client contact for each shift.
Seasonal Factors
The island's year is lopsided. From late spring into early fall, hotels, marinas, restaurants and wedding venues run at full pace, with holiday weekends the most demanding. Seasonal contracts and event dates in that window should be scoped months ahead, since officer assignments, ferry travel and lodging are all committed early. After the season, many businesses close, ferry schedules thin out, and demand shifts to occasional construction or renovation projects and closed-property concerns, each of which still needs its own advance plan.
Services Available in New Shoreham
These services are the ones most often relevant to New Shoreham properties. The full list of security services is available statewide.
- Event Security
- Hotel Security
- Marina Security
- Nightlife Security
- Estate Security
- Construction Security
- Unarmed Security
Island Areas
Coverage is available throughout the town of New Shoreham, including:
Frequently Asked Questions
As early as the date is known. Island assignments are planned separately from mainland work because staffing, ferry schedules, transportation, lodging where applicable and advance planning all affect availability. Summer weddings and seasonal contracts are ideally scoped months ahead.
That should not be assumed. An island assignment depends on an available officer, a ferry that is running and has space, and in many cases lodging, so immediate or same-day coverage is not something we promise. Call 401-289-9900 to describe the need and we will tell you plainly what is and is not feasible.
No mainland patrol route reaches New Shoreham, so drive-by patrol service is not offered here. Island coverage is arranged as scheduled on-site posts for defined dates, such as an event, a season or a project.
It starts with the dates, the hours of coverage and the duties at each post, followed by the travel and lodging plan for the officers assigned. Contracts are built with schedule margin for weather-related ferry disruptions, and changes during the season need as much lead time as the client can give.
Nearby Coverage
Coverage is also available in Narragansett, South Kingstown, Westerly, and throughout Washington County. See the full Rhode Island coverage directory.