With more than 40 years of combined service, three officers promoted at JPD

The Johnston Police Department held a promotion ceremony on Wednesday, Aug. 26, at the Johnston Senior Center. Mayor Joseph Polisena swore the officers in after an introduction by Chief David Decesare. Decesare was also promoted earlier in the year.

“Each has served the town with pride and distinction,” said Decesare, who welcomed the standing-room only crowd.

Promoted were Sgt. Marc Boisvert to lieutenant; Lt. John Perrotta to captain, and Capt. Robert J. Voas Jr. to major.

“They are extremely dedicated to the town – role models for the entire police department,” Polisena said of the officers. “On behalf of the citizens you protect, God bless you and keep you safe.”

Former Mayor Louis Perrotta was also on hand to watch the ceremony, and Chief Richard Tamburini echoed the sentiments of appreciation for the three officers.

“These officers have done due diligence. They’ve earned respect. I can’t think of three more deserving officers,” he said.

Lt. Marc Boisvert has been a member of the JPD since 1995. He is a past recipient of the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Community Hero Award for his work as program coordinator for the Johnston Police Explorer Post # 405.

Boisvert is certified with the International Police Mountain Bike Association and is a certified member of the Johnston Police Special Response Team. He is a member of the Johnston Police Honor Guard and is certified in accident reconstruction, federal motor carrier safety regulations and child passenger safety regulations. Boisvert has instructed at the Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy. He was most recently assigned to the department’s Commercial Enforcement Unit.

A 1988 graduate of Burrillville High School, Boisvert received his bachelor’s degree from Rhode Island College in 1993. The son of Blanche Boisvert and the late Charles Boisvert, he and wife Brenda and children Collin and Brooke live in Burrillville. His colleague, Lt. John Perrotta, is a Johnston-educated officer, having graduated from Johnston High School in 1985. He graduated cum laude from Salve Regina University, with a bachelor’s degree in administration of justice in 1989. He received his Master of Science degree from Salve in 1990, and graduated from Roger Williams University School of Law in 1998, at which time he also became a member of the Rhode Island Bar Association.

Perrotta has served as the department’s first and third watch commander, a DARE officer, Elderly Affairs advocate, field-training officer and the domestic violence coordinator. Moreover, he has acted as the employee assistance coordinator, the accident review board member and as an International Brotherhood of Police Officers business agent and vice-president. He presently instructs DUI standardized field sobriety tests at the Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy.

During his time of service, Perrotta has received two department ribbons, two department commendations and the Johnston Town Council life saving medal. His parents, Albert and Elaine Perrotta of Bonita Springs, Fla., pinned on his new badge. Perrotta, his wife Michelle and children Jenna and John Jr., live in Johnston.

Major Robert J. Voas Jr., joined the department in 1985, and has accrued four commendation awards along with letters of recommendation. He is the past recipient of the New England Community Police Partnership Lifetime Achievement Award, Juvenile Officer of the Year Award and the Johnston Senior Citizen R.I. Advocate Award for the Walk with COPPS Program. Among his other achievements are the R.I. Attorney General’s Justice Award in Law Enforcement, the R.I. Seed Award for Community Forrest Conservation, the Community Service Award from R.I. Big Brothers Association and the Town of Johnston Community Service Award.

Voas is a certified car seat specialist, DARE Instructor, National Crime Prevention practitioner and a class instructor at the R.I. Municipal Academy. He was appointed to the R.I. Sexual Offender Community Notification Task Force to represent the Chief of Police Association and was appointed by the Governor’s Office to the Sex Offender Board of Review.

A graduate of North Smithfield High School, he graduated cum laude from Boston College with a bachelor’s degree in political science. After completing his undergraduate study, he graduated summa cum laude from Salve Regina College with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and graduated magna cum laude from Salve Regina with a master’s degree in criminal justice.

A resident of North Providence, he was joined at the ceremony by his wife Rene; they are the parents of Robert Voas and Amanda Finnegan, and have one grandson, J.J. Voas had his badge pinned by his father, Robert Voas Sr., a retired chief of the Smithfield Police Department and a retired lieutenant of the RISP.

Voas is the program coordinator for the Johnston Police Explorer Post 405, members of which were on hand to congratulate him and the other two promoted officers.

After the ceremony, as the officers celebrated, Chief Tamburini showed a photo taken some 10 years earlier, taken at the first graduation of the Citizens Police Academy – the group photo included himself with the three officers who were promoted.

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Diane Schuler: Secret Alcoholic?

Diane Schuler had a few tokes and who knows how much booze on the last day of her life. She then drove the wrong way on a state highway, crashed headfirst into an SUV, and killed the three men in that vehicle, along with her three young nieces, her 2-year-old daughter, and herself. Her blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit. A broken bottle of Absolut vodka was found under the passenger seat in the wreckage of her car.

Was she an alcoholic? Very likely. You have to have a history of drinking to walk around, let alone drive, with that kind of blood alcohol level. In any case, she is now part of a growing statistic: drunk driving is rising among women while falling among men. The FBI says that, nationally, the number of women arrested for DUI was 28.8% higher in 2007 than it was in 1998, while it was 7.5% lower for men.

And women are the ones most often driving with kids in the car. As a spokesperson for MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) said: "It's the ultimate form of child abuse." And that drunk driver could be anyone. In a Chicago suburb, the daughter of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was sentenced to 18 months of court supervision after being pulled over by police for driving drunk; she had three kids in the car.

Alcohol. The great social lubricant. The two-martini client lunch, pina coladas at the family barbeque, the celebratory champagne toast, the college kegger, the cocktail party.

Alcoholism. Choosing friends because they drink. Sneaking another glass of wine when no one's looking. Finding excuses to drink. Drinking alone. Spiking coffee with vodka. Hiding bottles under the laundry. Waking up hung over.

I know it all -- the secret stashes, the coffee cup that no one questions, the quick pick-me-up(s) during the work day, the clients who would join me in a "little something" during a meeting, the pride when men would say, "Wow, you can drink me under the table."

Why can some people enjoy a daily glass of wine and never crave more than that, while others drink a bottle of wine a day and swear they're not alcoholics?

My folks didn't drink because my father had been an alcoholic who stopped drinking when I was four years old.

I started drinking when I was 15, when my roommate from boarding school invited me to spend a week in Las Vegas with her. Her mother's boyfriend took us out to dinner in a casino and ordered spiked Shirley Temples for us. In the bathroom, I looked in the mirror and asked the girl I saw there, "Who are you?" I liked her personality so much better than mine! If only I knew then who I was to become. Research shows that how people respond to their first drink indicates if they will be light drinkers or tend to abuse alcohol.


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