Lieutenant Arnold L. Poole

Lieutenant Arnold Poole was killed by gunfire while responding to a disturbance on a farm.

Lieutenant Poole went to arrest Peter Freeman, a farmhand who had created a disturbance at the farm where he was employed in Wickford. Freeman, without provocation, shot Poole and then fired additional shots into his prostrate body. Poole died about thirty minutes later. When troopers arrived on scene, they began searching for Freeman, who was hiding in an outbuilding on the property. As troopers opened the door to the building, Freeman climbed up a set of stairs toward them with a double barreled shot gun, but troopers opened fire before Freeman had a chance to raise his gun. Autopsy results showed that Freeman was intoxicated during the time of the incident.

Poole served in the United States Army during World War I, attaining the rank of Sergeant. Lieutenant Poole was posthumously awarded the State Police Service Ribbon for "displaying great courage as evidenced by his reluctance to shoot the man whom he knew to be armed."

Lieutenant Poole gave his life while in the performance of his duty and died upholding the highest traditions of the Rhode Island State Police and "In the Service of the State." He was the third member of the Rhode Island State Police to die in the line of duty.