Former Narragansett Police Chief J. David Smith, right, shown in a 2006 photo, is chosen to head the state’s Emergency’s Management Agency. At left is Narragansett police Capt. Dean Hoxsie.

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The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers

PROVIDENCE –– A retired police chief who has led a multimillion-dollar initiative to activate emergency communications across the state has been selected as the new executive director of the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency.

J. David Smith, formerly the police chief in Narragansett and Westerly, will take the helm of the EMA on April 21. Governor Carcieri announced his appointment yesterday, saying that Smith “possesses the credentials, experience, management skills and leadership ability to serve the people of Rhode Island well.”

Smith has nearly 30 years of law enforcement experience, from his career in Westerly and later as chief in Narragansett. After Smith retired as chief last summer, he was hired as director of public safety at Roger Williams University.

But he’s well-known in public-safety circles as the architect of Rhode Island’s communications system, which eventually will enable all responders and officials in various agencies to be able to talk to each other.

Having good communications during an emergency is critical –– and yet it was missing at the state’s and nation’s biggest catastrophes. At the Station nightclub fire, responders from dozens of agencies and the hospitals couldn’t talk to each other. At the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, the responders also couldn’t communicate with each other.

The state has spent years and millions in federal funds in establishing the 800 MHz radio system that will allow public safety officials from any agency –– local, state and federal –– to be able to talk to each other anywhere in Rhode Island.

This started with Smith, who as the Narragansett police chief decided to take on a pilot program to install interoperable radio communications for the town’s public safety. Using federal grants, Smith expanded the program throughout Washington County, and, as it became successful, continued the initiative across the rest of the state. Radio coverage has expanded across the southern and central regions of Rhode Island, and departments in Washington County, East Bay, and now Providence are either using the system or are in the process of installing it.

The capabilities of the radio system were put to the test in early 2006, when three University of Rhode Island students disappeared off the shore. For the first time, local police and fire officials at the scene could talk to the Coast Guard and state Department of Environmental Management officials by radio, without having to resort to calling their dispatchers to relay messages.

Smith talked about that incident yesterday as one of his experiences in handling emergencies. He also recalled working as a Westerly police officer during Hurricane Bob, searching for people during the storm, and working with the National Guardsmen who’d been mobilized to assist the state. He’d worked with others on Narragansett’s plan for how the town would continue to operate during a disaster, and served on a committee that helped Westerly Hospital develop its emergency response plan.

He said he hoped he could bring his ability to network and his experience to the state agency. The executive director’s job is “an opportunity for me to get back into the public safety arena and, at the risk of sounding like a cliché, making a difference,” Smith said yesterday.

His appointment was praised by the leaders of the state associations of police chiefs, fire chiefs, and local emergency management directors, all of whom said they were pleased the governor chose a director with experience in public safety. “I think it’s a step in the right direction,” said West Warwick emergency director Tom Senerchia, the chairman of the local directors association.

“We were hoping the governor was going to make a pick from public safety,” said Pawtucket Fire Chief Timothy McLaughlin, the president of the Rhode Island Fire Chiefs Association. “On behalf of the association, I applaud the governor for his choice.”

“I think he’s a great choice. He’s got a great background. I think he’s going to enjoy the support of the emergency management directors, the police chiefs and the fire chiefs,” said Warwick police Col. Stephen McCartney, the president of the Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association.

Smith is a past president of the chiefs association, and McCartney said they’d worked together on negotiating the state’s racial profiling statute. He said Smith showed he was a good communicator and a good listener on that project. “He has the strategic vision to take the EMA where it needs to go,” McCartney said.

“His actions to upgrade our emergency communications system in the state serve as an example of his diligence, responsibility and ability to work constructively to solve problems,” said Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts, who chairs the Emergency Management Advisory Council. “I look forward to meeting with Chief Smith to establish the priorities for RI EMA at a time when further progress is necessary to protect and prepare every Rhode Islander for future disasters.”

Smith’s salary is $89,351, according to the governor’s office. That’s $15,000 more than the former executive director was paid, and about $4,000 more than listed in the job posting. Rhode Island pays its executive director about $30,000 less than directors in neighboring states, and in the lower scale nationwide.

The state EMA coordinates the state’s emergency preparedness and response, and handles millions of dollars in federal grants that are distributed to other agencies and communities for emergency preparedness. The EMA conducts frequent training and drills, coordinates the National Flood Insurance Program and assists local directors in plans to aid their communities in handling emergencies.

While the executive director runs the daily operations, he or she answers to the adjutant general of the Rhode Island National Guard and serves at the governor’s will.

The EMA has been in turmoil since the governor fired its executive director, Robert J. Warren, a few days after the Dec. 13 snowstorm. Warren had been the agency’s first leader in about 20 years with experience in emergency management and public safety, and he was widely credited with professionalizing and reviving the small agency.

Public safety officials wrote letters to the governor urging him to reinstate Warren; the letters went unanswered. Local emergency directors have clashed with Maj. Robert T. Bray, adjutant general of the Rhode Island National Guard, over his handling of the agency and his orders for daily reports from the cities and towns about their resources. The Exeter Town Council went as far as to vote unanimously to refuse to comply with Bray’s orders.

McLaughlin said yesterday that Smith will need to rebuild the relationships that have frayed over the last several months. “I think he can be the one to build some bridges … and get on with the work that needs to be done,” McLaughlin said.

amilkovi@projo.com