Warwick police Maj. Joseph H. Tavares will retire soon after 30 years on the job.

The Providence Journal / Frieda Squires

WARWICK — Police Maj. Joseph H. Tavares will tell you that he made one of the best decisions of his life when he was about 15 years old.

He was in the eighth grade in East Providence when a local police officer came to talk to the class about his job. “That was it,” Tavares said. “I knew right then and there that that’s what I wanted to do.”

It was a good call.

Tavares, 52, logged his last day with the Warwick Police Department on Friday, after 30 years on the job.

“I’ve always loved it,” he said. “There were not any police officers in my family –– I am first-generation in a Portuguese family. But somehow I just knew ... it was something about always wanting to do the right thing.”

Doing the right thing is how Tavares’ peers describe his career and his approach to a job that often puts police officers in touch with the seedier side of society.

“Major Tavares has always had a vision for this and he practiced it every single day at work,” Col. Stephen McCartney, the police chief, said Friday. “He’s always treated every person he’s dealt with respect and dignity … I am going to miss him terribly.”

Tavares’ calm, courtly demeanor fits his rank as major and his role in the command staff of the second-largest municipal police department in the Rhode Island.

But his patience and impeccable suits don’t give a hint to his bulldog persistence, his gritty start in the profession in undercover narcotics, or his much-loved years in detectives when he was exactly the person you did not want to be interrogated by.

He did not yell or take “the bad cop” role. His interrogation style, he said, was born out of a sincere desire to understand people and a willingness to listen.

His endurance didn’t hurt either. Tavares said he always made it clear to suspects that “I wasn’t going anywhere and they weren’t going anywhere until we had the truth.”

Tavares moved up quickly in his career, making sergeant after 5 years on the force and captain after 14 years. He had many different assignments, but loved being in detectives the most and was proud to head that division for 3½ years.

In 2000, Tavares was among the few municipal police officers in the country selected each year to attend the FBI Academy, in Quantico, Va. He has held the rank of major for the last five years.

Almost as soon as he joined the department, in 1979, Tavares was recruited to work undercover. As a result, he said, his parents were a little taken aback to see their newly sworn son show up at their home with long hair and a thick beard and riding a motorcycle. “It wasn’t what they expected,” he said.

Mayor Scott Avedisian said he has known Tavares for more than 20 years, and his respect for the man who always brought poise and professionalism to his police work has never wavered.

“He has always treated every call, every encounter with a person as if this might be their only contact with the city,” Avedisian said. “We have about 80,000 people who expect us to protect them and minister to their needs — and with Joe Tavares on the job, I knew that was exactly what was happening.”

Tavares acknowledges that he is leaving his “comfort zone”, but with his three children almost grown, it is time to think about other adventures and also have enough time to care for his elderly mother.

He has no immediate career plans, but has faith that other opportunities will present themselves after he’s spent a few months relaxing.

And there are a couple of things he knows for sure.

“I know that I’m leaving this job while I still love it and that I’m going to miss it,” he said. “Also, Warwick is the department that I joined when I was 22 and it is such a great department. I will always be proud to be a Warwick cop.”

bpoliche@projo.com