When Steve McAllister was picked by his colleagues to be the City Council President earlier this year he challenged them to “make the chambers more welcoming to the citizens and find ways to increase community involvement,” City Councilor Tim Howe recalls.

One of Howe’s suggestions was to add a sergeant of arms position for the Council meetings to assist community members attending meetings. 

The majority of the Council agreed and on Monday Paul Wells was introduced as the first Sergeant of Arms for Warwick in many years.

Wells is no stranger to Warwick. For 29 years he was a police officer with the Warwick Police Department spending the last 10 years in the Community Police Division/ K-9 Unit. He retired in 2018 and is currently at the University of Rhode Island Police Department where he works as a K-9 officer.

“My expectations for this role are simple.  I want to continue to serve the city I grew up in.  A city that I have worked for since I was a teen,” Wells said. 

Aside from working for the police department he also worked for the city job lottery program and for the police reserve program. 

“By volunteering for this position, I will continue to assist the people of Warwick by helping them as they come into the Council meeting, with questions, trying to keep the public side of things running smoothly and orderly,” Wells said.

Once the Council approved a sergeant of arms, Howe said that he immediately recommended Wells to be in that role.

“I met Paul years ago, our wives work together and I immediately thought the world of him.  He has a very calm demeanor, high professional standard and is very community focused,” Howe said. “Those traits were proven during his 30 years of service to the city of Warwick as a patrolman and K-9 Officer.”

According to McAllister the sergeant of arms will be the point person for all guests attending Council meetings, meeting with guests who lead the Council in the pledge of allegiance and those presenting to the Council. He will also be the point person for the sign up sheet for public comment, by greeting members of the public and letting them know how to sign up to speak. Additionally the sergeant of arms will be available to hand out agendas for the meeting to the public, and help answer any questions someone may have while the meeting is going on.  

By having someone designated to help the public as they arrive at Council meetings, it will allow for the Council to stay on track with the business they have during their committee meetings, McAllister explained. 

“Having a point person for all guests and members of the public will allow us to continue our work during committees but still have a council representative available to welcome people to the meeting,” McAllister said. 

According to McAllister, adding the position is just one of the things the City Council is doing to make their chambers more community oriented. 

“Adding a sergeant of arms is part of our overall plan to make the council meetings more public friendly,” he said. “We now have members of our community lead us in the pledge of allegiance at each meeting so we can highlight all the good happening in our City.  We are also inviting boards and commissions and non profits to speak to us so they can highlight all the great work they do for our community.” 

Howe also pointed out that the Council President pauses committee meetings at 7 p.m. to allow the Council meeting to open and “address items citizens are attending for.”

“People should not have to choose the value of time over the value of the concern,” Howe said.

In addition to Wells, the Council is also hoping to add other volunteers to be sergeant of arms. McAllister said that they don’t have to be retired law enforcement or a veteran and that it is open for anyone interested in being involved.

He also said that they want to have deputy sergeant of arms as well for the Council meetings. 

“These positions would be for any students who have an interest in government and want to learn more about the legislative branch of government,” McAllister said.

Anyone interested in becoming a sergeant of arms or deputy should contact McAllister at smcallister4@gmail.com. They can also contact their individual City Councilor.