As a fourth-grader at St. Mary’s School in Cranston, James Manni found the inspiration for what became the focus of his life’s work.

One day, a sergeant from the Cranston Police Department visited Manni’s class to speak about his job. Like Manni, the visiting officer was Italian and had deep roots in the local community.

“I was just so impressed with him. It seemed like he loved his job,” Manni recalled. “I was the kid asking a million questions … He took the time to answer me, and I just, from that point on, I knew, ‘I’m going to be a policeman.’”

On April 19 at Rhode Island State Police headquarters, Manni – who now holds the rank of colonel as the agency’s 14th superintendent, in addition to the title of director of the state’s Department of Public Safety – spoke about how he tries to pay that formative experience forward.

The day before, he said, he hosted a 15-year-old girl who wants to pursue a career as a police officer. He provided a tour of the agency’s headquarters, spoke with the aspiring officer about the duties of the State Police and shared his own insights.

“I take a lot of pride in mentoring and talking to young people who have an interest in law enforcement, because of my experience,” he said. “So I hope someday, someone remembers me talking to them and they get interested in law enforcement. That’s the legacy I’d like to leave.”

Manni has taken what he called a “long, winding road” to the superintendent’s office. His roots, all the while, have been firmly planted in his native Cranston, where several members of his family still reside.

Like many local families, Manni is a descendant of immigrants from Italy, specifically Rome and Itri. His parents both grew up in Cranston’s Knightsville section.

Manni said his “large, extended family” included many aunts and uncles. His father was one of seven brothers, he said, and they were a “huge influence” in terms of appreciating the outdoors. His mother’s side, he said, was “very close-knit” and instilled in him the value of family and tradition.

In the mid-1960s – shortly after Manni was born – the family relocated to a new home his father built in the area of Comstock Parkway and Olney Arnold Road. At the time, the move was a major one.

“It was if my father was moving to New Hampshire,” he recalled. “That’s how they treated it back then.”

Growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, Manni said, “Cranston was the hub of my universe.” In addition to St. Mary’s, he attended what is now Western Hills Middle School and Cranston High School West.

After graduating, Manni continued his studies at the University of Rhode Island. Like his family’s move from Knightsville to Western Cranston, it was a small shift in terms of geography but a significant one in terms of perspective.

“I realized that there’s a bigger world out there,” he said.

Manni earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at URI and went on to earn a master’s degree in the same field at Bryant College – now Bryant University – before starting his professional life with the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Boston.

Then, he joined the United States Secret Service, first based in the Providence field office and then in the New York City field office at 6 World Trade Center. The transfer to New York was another perspective-altering change, taking him from the agency’s smallest office with roughly six agents to its largest with approximately 200.

The experience ultimately brought Manni’s goals into clearer focus.

“Although I really enjoyed the Secret Service, it was a tremendous opportunity, the more I was away the more I wanted to move home,” he said. “I was traveling a lot, going overseas … I always loved the roots I had in Cranston, and I always wanted to be a state trooper.”

In 1990, Manni entered the Rhode Island State Police Academy, from which he graduated alongside current Cranston Police Col. Michael Winquist. He would go on to serve 25 years with the agency before his mandatory retirement in 2015 as a major, holding a wide range of roles and earning a place on the command staff.

After his retirement, Manni applied and was hired for the position of director of operations, safety and security at the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority. That job, he said, involved a “similar skill set” as the work he had done as operations officer for the State Police.

“It was kind of a natural fit,” he said.

Soon after, in 2016, Manni made yet another, more dramatic change of course. He was selected to serve as town manager for Narragansett.

That post, he said, required a different set of abilities – from managing a $62-million budget to navigating difficult political waters, such as the community’s heated debate over the future of its library.

“It’s a very challenging position. You deal with five bosses [on the Town Council] … The key to success there is to stay out of the politics,” he said.

He added, “If I had to pick the job that really prepared me to be the superintendent … it was being a town manager.”

Then, in 2018, came another bend in Manni’s “long, winding road.” He received Gov. Gina Raimondo’s nomination to succeed Col. Ann Assumpico as superintendent of the State Police, and sailed to confirmation weeks later.

“I serve at the pleasure of the governor, but I’d like to be here for a while,” he said. “It’s a tremendous opportunity to be able to come back. There’s only been 14 superintendents in the history of the state police … To have that opportunity is a dream come true for any trooper.”

Manni has been on the job for roughly two months, and he said the stretch has “been a blur.” As director of the Department of Public Safety, he oversees seven agencies with a combined budget of $140 million. As the leader and face of the State Police, he said he must “be prepared to multitask” each day while remaining “honest and transparent.”

“There’s a tremendous amount of responsibility that comes with this position,” he said. “It’s like holding a lighting rod, and at any given time you could be right in the middle of a very controversial topic or arrest.”

Manni said he has received a warm reception from the agency’s personnel, and noted that because of his relatively brief absence, he is well acquainted with virtually all of them.

Going forward, he said, his top priority is working ensure all seven of the public safety agencies provide the “highest level of service” to Rhode Islanders.

“I’m doing a top-to-bottom assessment of the Department of Public Safety, every agency, including the State Police, to see with this limited amount of resources that we have, is it being utilized the best?” he said.

Manni said he has also prioritized “creating a diverse workforce that will reflect the community we serve.”

“I hope that my legacy … is that the agency continued to be transparent, operated with integrity, and that we met the needs of the people we serve,” he said.

Manni spoke glowingly of Winquist, who he served alongside on the State Police command staff.

“We worked very closely together,” he said. “Mike is a really good friend and I still stay in touch with him. He’s a great guy.”

The new superintendent also spoke about his second-in-commander, Lt. Col. Kevin Barry, who served as interim chief of the Cranston Police Department as part of a State Police assessment prior to Winquist’s appointment.

“He’s a very capable commander,” he said. “He knows exactly what needs to be done.”

Manni now resides in South Kingstown with his wife, a Coventry native he first met while on a Secret Service detail with then Vice President George H.W. Bush roughly 30 years ago.

His heart, however, remains in the community where he grew up. He spoke of a recent trip to Italy with his wife, and of how much his time there reminded him of the city he remembers from his youth.

“I love Cranston,” he said. “Those are my roots. Much of my success I owe to Cranston … I think my strength came from my family and my Cranston roots, I really do.”