RIVER VALE—Congratulations and job well done to Police Lt. John J. DeVoe, who is turning his decades of service to the township into something greater still.
DeVoe completed his final walk-out from the River Vale Police Department on Friday, May 21, emerging into a bright afternoon to whoops, cheers, and applause from family, friends, and colleagues.
He told Pascack Press that in his newfound space time he’s focusing on his role as president of the FBI National Academy Associates New Jersey chapter.
“I am working with my Executive Board to meet the challenges that we faced as a result of the health pandemic, including finding new and innovative ways to engage with and train our law enforcement leaders,” he said.
His goal is to transition from the law enforcement profession into the private sector. In the interim, he plans to enjoy down time with family and friends… and his newly adopted Great Dane rescue.
His ceremony was very well attended, with parking occupied on adjacent streets and at River Vale Community Church. A reception followed.
DeVoe has more than 25 years of valuable police experience. He began his career as a Special Law Enforcement Officer with the Seaside Heights Police Department.
He’s a senior investigator with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Cyber Crimes Task Force, where he also serves as the Educational Outreach Coordinator.
His bio notes he’s attended “a plethora of particularized training and attained a variety of certifications and distinguished memberships.
Perhaps most notably, DeVoe is an active member of the FBI National Academy Associates, having graduated in March 2013 from FBI National Academy in Session #252.
He also is an active member of the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Association, graduating in June 2012 from the Mid-Atlantic Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar (MALEEDS) at Princeton University.
DeVoe graduated from the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police/West Point Command and Leadership Academy in 2013, where he was honored as class valedictorian and received the Academic Achievement Award.
In 2013, he was honored to accept an invitation to join the Executive Board of MALEEDS.
He was sworn in to the Executive Board of the FBI National Academy Associates New Jersey Chapter in 2017, where he serves as president.
DeVoe told us that for much of his law enforcement career he’s dedicated himself to the pursuit of cybercriminals.
And his passion has long been in education initiatives that have reached tens of thousands of children and adults throughout the Northeast.
Most recently, DeVoe was inducted into the FBI National Academy Associates Speaker’s Bureau, which endorses him as a sanctioned presenter.
He is certified by the New Jersey Police Training Commission as a police instructor and teaches courses for the public safety community, including serving as a lead instructor of the esteemed Methods of Instruction course.
DeVoe is immediate past president of the Pascack Valley/Northern Valley Detective Bureau Association, and a past president of the Bergen County Police Chiefs Juvenile Officers Association.
He also serves the New Jersey State Policeman’s Benevolent Association Local 206 as a trustee, executive board member, and chairman of the Plaque and Awards Committee, helping to recognize the achievements of fellow officers.
Moreover, he’s a longstanding member of the Hills–Valley Coalition for Resilient Youth and the River Vale Municipal Alliance Committee, which is administrated by the Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.
Ever looking toward the future, DeVoe founded the River Vale Junior Police Academy in 2000. He coordinated and instructed the program over the next 20 years as more than 2,000 recruits cycled through and graduated.
He graduated with academic honors as salutatorian of Ocean County Police Academy Class #68. He attended Don Bosco Prep and earned a bachelor of science from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a nationally recognized institution among the law enforcement community.
While attending John Jay, he was repeatedly named to the Dean’s List, he received academic honors within the criminal justice major, and he graduated magna cum laude.
DeVoe continued his education, earning a master of arts in human resource training and development from Seton Hall University, where he was inducted to Kappa Delta Pi International honor society in Education.
An avid philanthropist, John is the founder and president of Mayday Missions: Hope For Heroes, a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to assisting first responders and their families in times of crisis, adversity, and hardship.