Decorated Vernon Police officer John DiVenere Retires

VERNON, CT — Decorated Vernon police officer John DiVenere officially retired from the force last week after two decades on the job.

Here are his carer highlights.

• John was hired by Vernon PD on 7/23/01. Retired on 10/1/21.
• John served in the Connecticut Army National Guard as a Military Police Officer from 7/21/1996 to 1/31/2002.
• John was assigned to East Central Narcotics Task Force from Jan 2002 to April 2005.
• In April 2005, John was assigned to the Detective Division.
• He was a named a hostage/crisis negotiator for the regional CREST team in 2017.
• He also served on the VPD Honor Guard.

During his career DiVenere earned several commendations including:

• VPD Officer of the Year 2008
• 2 Distinguished Service
• 3 Distinguished Service Unit Citations
• 5 Meritorious Service
• 3 Meritorious Service Unit Citations
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving Award 2003, 2004
• States Attorney’s Officer of the Year, 2009, 2010, 2014
• Numerous letters of commendation

DiVenere has accepted a job as an Inspector for the State of Connecticut's Division of Criminal Justice and will be assigned to Rockville Superior Court as of Oct. 8.