Hopkinton is among a growing list of communities to join the state police truck enforcement unit.

Hopkinton Police Officer Glenn Ahern is already out on the road checking for truck violations, Chief John S. Scuncio said.

In Rhode Island, such enforcement typically falls under the state police, the lead MCSAP agency — that’s the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program.

The MCSAP is a federal grant program that provides financial assistance to states and U.S. territories to reduce the number and severity of crashes and hazardous materials incidents involving commercial motor vehicles, according to the FMCSA’s Web site.

In fiscal 2006, the latest year for which figures were available, Rhode Island received $758,708.

Facing growing commercial volume, failing infrastructure and budget constraints, the state police have been increasingly reaching out to local police departments as a “force multiplier,” said Lt. Thomas M. Underhill, the unit’s commander.

The state police’s Commercial Enforcement Unit, known as the truck squad, currently employs 10 full-time troopers, who work exclusively on commercial enforcement. Eighty percent of their salaries are paid through a federal grant, with the state paying the remaining 20 percent, Underhill said.

In addition, it has 11 auxiliary members, troopers who work on commercial enforcement on a part-time basis. It is that part of the unit that the state police have been trying to bulk up with municipal officers.

With high commercial traffic mainly from Quonset Point, North Kingstown currently has three officers certified in commercial vehicle enforcement.

Johnston recently added a second one, and Central Falls and Hopkinton each have one.

More are asking to join, Underhill said.

Providence and Warwick, both of which used to have certified officers, are seeking to train new officers. Other communities, including Narragansett and South Kingstown, also want in, Underhill said.

As part of the state police-financed training, officers receive 80 hours of classroom instruction at the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program Region 1 Academy at the Massachusetts State Police Academy, in New Braintree, Mass.

Officers must then complete at least 40 hours of field training, riding with a certified trooper and performing at least 32 commercial vehicles’ inspections, Underhill said.

The officers’ primary responsibility remains with their towns, Underhill said. Their “secondary obligation is to the state police.”

The towns are responsible for purchasing the necessary equipment, Underhill said.

The long-term goal, the state police lieutenant said, is to create a special task force that would allow those officers to work mainly if not exclusively for the state police on commercial vehicles’ enforcement.

Currently, the state reimburses the towns for their work in weight and emissions enforcement, he said.

Creating a task force, however, would allow the state police to pay the officers’ salary — under the same arrangement, with 80 percent being covered by a federal grant and the towns matching the remaining 20 percent.

“We still have many hurdles to overcome,” Underhill said, noting that currently the officers have authority to issue tickets or make arrests only in their own communities. “It’s a work in progress.”

To offset the costs to the communities, the state police conduct “high intensity enforcement programs in their towns” as well as public outreach and safety demonstrations.

“Even though we can’t pick up the salaries just yet, we … assist them with the safety,” Underhill said.

“Our priority is to help make the highways and secondary roads safer,” Underhill said. “There is no such a thing as a small accident when it involves a commercial vehicle.”

Sgt. Marc Boisvert, one of the two certified commercial vehicles’ inspectors in Johnston, said the town has already seen tangible results from the stepped-up local enforcement.

In 2005, when Boisvert was first certified, Boisvert said he stopped many trucks that didn’t properly secure their loads.

Boisvert said drivers were unaware of a federal regulation that requires them to make the rear of their vehicles secure, with no loose items or unlocked doors.

Now, drivers have received the message, and with better load securement and a reduced speeds, rollovers have declined, said Boisvert.

“And that is our greatest goal,” he said.

marmenta@projo.com