Is Block Island ferry safe? After weekend fight, here's what police are saying

The weekend news headline sounded familiar: Seven people arrested as Narragansett police dealt with a large fight at the dock for Block Island ferries.

In 2022, brawling on a ferry had led state police to board one vessel and arrest seven people in the middle of the boat's transit from Block Island.

That incident seemed to factor into some of the reaction online to Saturday's news.

"We live in a day and age of social media," Narragansett Police Chief Sean Corrigan said Tuesday.

"It's such a challenge dealing with this," he added.

Both Corrigan and New Shoreham Police Chief Paul Deane say that security around the docks on their respective sides of the crossing remains sufficient.

"This is a very safe place," said Deane, referring to the Block Island side. "It's safe to bring the family and it's safe to travel back and forth."

"It really is," he said.

Said Corrigan: "We didn't have an arrest last year at all."

He was referring to the absence of arrests by Narragansett police at the Galilee ferry dock in 2023.

During the period between June 1, 2018, and the end of last summer, Narragansett police made a total of 10 arrests involving the ferries, said Corrigan, who provided the information to members of the Town Council on Monday.

Four of those 10 arrest arrests involved disorderly conduct. Two others involved people wanted on warrants for conduct that took place elsewhere.

One person was arrested for jumping off the ferry and another for indecent exposure, Corrigan said.

Police officers on duty at ferry landings

Near the ferry slip in Narragansett, a uniformed constable or a police officer is present through the day until the last ferry comes in for the night.

A 50-cent landing fee attached to each ferry ticket goes toward the cost of the detail.

In New Shoreham, which also receives a landing fee, the town typically has two officers near the docks from 5 p.m. until the last ferry departs.

"We have plenty of presence at the ferry," said Deane.

Not that brawls are common. Sometimes people can get heated when they haven't made proper arrangements for a ferry ride home at the end of the day and the boat is full, said Deane.

Maritime Security Act

Another layer of security comes into play during the transit and in the port, too, according to William McCombe, the director of security for Interstate Navigation, the company that runs the ferry.

The ferry service is regulated both by the Coast Guard and the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission.

Many security and safety aspects of the operation fall under the Maritime Security Act, passed in 2004 at the outset of the post 9/11 era.

Under the security act, the ferry service files a five-year security plan that accounts for drills, training and capabilities for handling a range of emergencies, McCombe said.

On Tuesday, he said, the ferry service ran a planned drill in concert with an inspection by the Coast Guard.

Uniformed Coast Guard Sea Marshals sometimes ride the ferry.

Coast Guard personnel on their own vessel sometimes escort ferries and the ferry service also hires security officers, McCombe said.

Their presence increased following the 2022 brawl, McCombe said.

Members of the Transportation Security Administration's Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response Team also ride the ferry at times, McCombe said.

McCombe said the ferry has obligations, as an entity regulated by the utilities commission, that are similar to a public bus.

"We don't have the luxury of being as selective as some people would like us to have," he said.

Ferry service doesn't sell drinks on late-day return boats

During the full-service summer season, the ferry service declines to sell alcoholic beverages on the last two ferries returning to Galilee from Block Island, McCombe said. The summer-season schedule was not yet in effect Saturday but would be on Wednesday's Juneteenth holiday, he said.

2 more arrested in Saturday's strife

An investigation into the fight Saturday continues, Corrigan said.

Two more people, in addition to the seven arrested on Saturday, now face charges.

Regulatory oversight provides authorities with other avenues for adding additional security and safety measures on the ferries if conditions in the future should warrant that, Corrigan said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Despite Saturday arrests, police chiefs say Block Island ferry is safe