Police Report No Arrests at Feast

This year’s St. Rocco Church Feast and Festival went as smoothly as it ever has gone. In fact, it went about as smoothly as possible, with no incidents reported, according to Johnston Police Deputy Chief David DeCesare.

“There were zero incidents of any sort — from kids being discourteous and using vulgar language to larcenies,” DeCesare said.

The police department used different tactics this year to patrol the feast and the surrounding area. Feast organizers hire off-duty officers to patrol the grounds, and the police department has an on-duty patrol assigned to the area. The patrol officer is responsible for parking issues and incidents that occur outside the grounds of the feast, DeCesare said.

On the festival grounds, police parked a marked police cruiser with flashing lights near the entrance, and officers patrolled on foot and bicycle. The officers on bike patrol moved in and out of the crowds, rode around Walgreens area and through the parking lots, DeCesare said.

He said having the bike patrol riding through the parking lots helped protect parked cars from break-ins.

Having a police presence at the feast helped deter mischief and allowed officers to easily detect the areas where trouble
could arise. An officer was stationed at the entrance of the beer tent to ensure underage drinkers did not enter and adults did not remove drinks from the area.

“They see us standing there and it makes it easier for them to make the right choice,” said DeCesare, who was at the feast until closing Sunday and said he received a lot of positive feedback.

“It’s a parish community. They want to go to the feast to enjoy themselves and not have to worry about there being unruly people or
having items stolen from them,” he said. “We try to make it as comfortable of a setting as possible for them.”