Brendan Doherty (born March 14, 1959) is a former

Rhode Island State Police The Rhode Island State Police (RISP) is an agency of the US state of Rhode Island responsible for statewide law enforcement and regulation, especially in areas underserved by local police agencies and on the state's limited-access highways. Its h ...

Superintendent and the 2012

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nominee for

Rhode Island's 1st congressional district Rhode Island's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It includes all of Bristol and Newport counties, along with parts of Providence County, including most of the city of Providence. The di ...

. Doherty was employed at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island as the Director of the Special Investigations Unit identifying healthcare fraud from 2013 until 2019. Doherty is currently the owner and operator of the Doherty Group, a private investigations and security consulting firm based out of Providence, Rhode Island.

Early life

The second of three sons, his father Edward Doherty was a dentist, and his mother Carol (Flynn) Doherty was a nurse. His father was an avid

contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions ...

player having risen to the rank of Life Master. Doherty studied at Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro, Mass., where he was the team captain of the school's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team. However, just as he was finishing high school, his father became very ill due to

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

and the family's financial situation became very serious since his father could no longer run his dental practice and his mother had to continue working while also caring for her ailing husband. Though Doherty had been awarded a partial scholarship to attend Bryant University, he quickly realized that his family were not able to financially support him and so enrolled at Rhode Island College, financing his education by working at various jobs.

Law enforcement career

At the age of 21, Doherty joined the ranks of the

as a uniform trooper. Doherty was promoted through the ranks to that of captain. In November 2002, he was appointed the force's executive officer, which is the second highest-ranking position in the Rhode Island State Police. In August 2004, having served for 24 years, Doherty retired with the rank of major. While serving in the police he earned a bachelor of arts degree in criminology from

Roger Williams University Roger Williams University (RWU) is a private university in Bristol, Rhode Island. Founded in 1956, it was named for theologian and Rhode Island cofounder Roger Williams. The school enrolls over 5,000 students and employs over 480 academic st ...

and later a master's degree in criminal justice from

Anna Maria College Anna Maria College is a private Roman Catholic college in Paxton, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1946 as a women's college, but has been coeducational since 1973. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees. History Anna Mari ...

. During his law enforcement career he earned 24 commendations for outstanding police work. After retiring from the police force, Doherty worked from 2004 through to 2007 as the director of public safety at

. In April 2007 Doherty returned to the Rhode Island State Police and was sworn in as the 11th superintendent of the force, holding the rank of Colonel and responsible for supervising the activities of 350 sworn and civilian personnel with an 80 million dollar budget. In 2009, in addition to his position as Superintendent of the state police, legislation was passed appointing Doherty to become the first Commissioner of Public Safety for the state overseeing the Rhode Island State Fire Marshal, E 911, Capitol Police, Municipal

Police Academy A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or othe ...

and RI Grants Administration Office. Doherty served from April 2007 until his retirement in April 2011.

2012 congressional campaign

In March 2012, Doherty announced that he would be running for the Republican nomination in order to challenge Democratic incumbent Rep.

David Cicilline David Nicola Cicilline (; born July 15, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 36th mayor of Providence from 2003 to 2011, the first openly ...

for

. At first Doherty faced former State Rep. John J. Loughlin, Jr. for the nomination, however Loughlin later dropped out of the race, leaving Doherty as the only Republican in the running for the seat. Even though the 1st District has a large Democratic leaning, Doherty has been competitive in polls because of Cicilline's unpopularity and controversies from his time as

Mayor of Providence The following is a list of mayors of Providence, Rhode Island. Originally the term for the mayor was one year, from June to June. In 1873, the term was lengthened to January, and then from January to January. In 1913, the term was lengthened to tw ...

. Early polling briefly showed Doherty leading Cicilline. Subsequent polling showed the race much closer and Cicilline defeated Doherty by 53% to 41%. In 2014 Doherty changed his party affiliation to Democrat.

Personal life

On September 10, 1983, Doherty married his sweetheart Mich ele Lapierre and they have two children: Matthew, born in 1987, and Shelby, born in 1989. ;Awards Bishop Feehan High School Outstanding Alumni- Bishop Feehan High School Athletic Hall of Fame- R.I. Criminal Justice Hall of Fame- * NAACP Community Service Award (2010) *Cesar Chavez Award for Providence (2010) *Rhode Island Big Brothers Humanitarian Award (2009)State Police superintendent to get Big Brothers' award , Breaking News , providencejournal.com , The Providence Journal
/ref> * American Red Cross Life Saving Award (1998)

References

External links

Doherty for Congress
official campaign site *
Campaign contributions
at

Open Secrets ''Open Secrets'' () is a book of short stories by Alice Munro published by McClelland and Stewart in 1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente buil ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doherty, Brendan 1959 births Living people State cabinet secretaries of Rhode Island Rhode Island Republicans Roger Williams University alumni Roger Williams University faculty People from Attleboro, Massachusetts People from Cumberland, Rhode Island Candidates in the 2012 United States elections 21st-century American politicians American state police officers Anna Maria College alumni