Coventry police Detective Wayne M. French, who serves on the department’s Marine Patrol Unit, pilots the unit’s boat on Johnson’s Pond. The unit expects a busy Independence Day weekend on the pond, a major attraction for recreational boaters.

The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers

COVENTRY — The number-one piece of safety advice for recreational boaters on Johnson’s Pond this holiday weekend is pretty simple, according to the police.

“Primarily, use good common sense,” said Detective Wayne M. French, one of several officers assigned to the Marine Patrol Unit, which covers the pond. French will among five of those officers on the pond, also called the Flat River Reservoir, starting tomorrow.

“We like to see people enjoy the pond. We are here to protect and ensure safety for people out on the pond and their property,” French said.

Yesterday as French took a spin in the department’s small white skiff, he offered safety tips boaters and Jet Ski jockeys should remember.

Have proper safety equipment on the vessel before venturing out; life jackets are crucial.

“There should be a personal floatation device for every person aboard any boat — as well as fire extinguishers,” French said.

He said the police patrols will be checking for people operating under the influence of alcohol and reckless boating.

Johnson’s Pond was created in 1873 with the construction of the Flat River Reservoir Dam, on the South Branch of the Pawtuxet River.

Intended to be a recreation area rather than a water supply, the pond covers about 660 acres and is as deep as 36 feet in some places, French said. Its northernmost point is near Town Farm and Maple Valley roads, its southern end near Hill Farm Road.

Dozens of lavish homes hug the reservoir’s banks. Perched at many backyard piers are curvy slides for splashing, skiffs and other small outboard and inboard vessels and personal watercraft.

The pond sparkled in the bright sun yesterday, as iridescent dragonflies in vivid hues of copper, blue, jade and gold skimmed the surface.

Over the long holiday weekend, the pond will be patrolled 12 hours each day, French said.

“We want to be visible throughout the entire pond,” he said.

Steven H. Hall, chief of the state Department of Environmental Management’s Division of Law Enforcement, says his officers do not regularly patrol Johnson’s Pond but may have a boat on the water this weekend. The division routinely trains police officers in boarding procedures and inspections.

Hall says alcohol and failure to use life jackets are the major boating hazards the DEM sees. Nationwide, he said, about 700 people a year die in recreational boating accidents, a majority of them because they were not wearing jackets.

Donald Pare, vice president of the Johnson’s Pond Civic Association, grew up around the pond and bought a house there 15 years ago. On summer weekends, he says, the pond is “busy with 40 to 50 boats and 20-plus Jet Skis going all over the place.”

“We would like to see more patrols,” he said.

lsparks@projo.com