RI State Police Officer Suspended After GoLocal Investigation into His Outside Business

RI State Police Officer Suspended After GoLocal Investigation into His Outside Business

Rhode Island State Police veteran Jay Gibbs was placed on suspension with pay on Thursday, GoLocal has learned.

The suspension is pending an agency investigation.

Colonel James Manni of the State Police tells GoLocal, “I am prohibited from making a public statement under the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights.

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Gibbs, a 25-year State Police veteran, is also the Co-Owner and Vice President of Ocean State Scale and Balance -- the business is at the center of the controversy.

Members of the Rhode Island State Police are not allowed to operate outside businesses without the approval Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police. Manni told GoLocal last week that the outside business activities and use of state equipment by Gibbs as a Commander of the State Police were under review by the agency.

Gibbs is featured in a promotional video and marketing material for the company.

GoLocal Investigation

A GoLocal request for State Police documents specifically relating to Gibbs showed that he used his State Police email and computer for documents related to his business.

In November of 2019, GoLocal filed for the records under the Access to Public Records Act.  GoLocal was billed $1,750 by the State Police for the documents relating to Gibbs' outside activities and other matters.

The requested documents delivered to GoLocal earlier this month by Rhode Island Office of Public Safety Legal Counsel Adam Sholes unveiled that Gibbs had nearly 200 pages of documents relating to his private business on Rhode Island State Police computers. The majority of those documents were forwarded by Gibbs to his personal email address in 2018.

The documents emailed included his company's payroll, insurance documents, tax documents, sales documents, and training materials.

The longest document of Gibbs on his State Police computer was his draft “Employee Handbook” for his Ocean State Scale and Balance. The draft document includes guidance for his employees for every aspect including  “standard of conduct” and “code of ethics.”

Gibbs could not be reached for comment regarding his suspension.