BY JOSEPH B. NADEAU

WOONSOCKET — Deputy Chief of Police Richard Dubois has packed up his office in a move that clears the way for State Police to step in today and run the local department on an interim basis.

Mayor Susan D. Menard has scheduled a press conference with State Police Colonel Brendan P. Doherty at the station this afternoon when the interim department leadership is expected to be announced.
Menard could not be reached for further comment about the change Tuesday but Dubois was reported to have cleared out his office at the station Tuesday night with the help of friends.
Dubois’ departure from the department follows the resignation of Police Chief Michael L.A. Houle on Monday in response to allegations he helped his ex-wife, Patrolwoman Marsha Bish, move up on a list of candidates for an appointment with the department.
Bish lodged those allegations with members of the department recently and the charges are currently under investigation by the department’s internal affairs officer Lt. Marc Turcotte.
Dubois could not be reached for comment about his move out of the Deputy Chief’s office but was reported to have taken a number of boxes of belongings with him as he departed.
The Deputy Chief, a 30-year-member of the department,
has not commented publicly about the allegations of testing results were changed but was reported to have been upset by the Monday’s public contentions he was involved.
 Dubois was reported to have had medical treatment at Landmark Medical Center Monday night for a possible cardiac incident and was later released.
  The testing allegations came as part of a series of controversies that have marred Houle’s leadership of the Department since he won Menard’s appointment to the job in 2005.
 Dubois has been Houle’s strong right arm in facing continuing criticism from both within and outside the department.
 He filed an Ethics Commission challenge to City Councilwoman’s Suzanne J. Vadenais’ participation in Council deliberations on police matters due to her son Kevin’s employment as a patrolman under his jurisdiction last fall. The case was found to be without cause following a review by the ethics panel.
  Dubois also participated in Houle’s discipline of two department detectives, Capt. Walter Warot and Lt. Timothy Paul for their handling of the investigation of an alleged illegal access of a department computer from outside the department. The detectives were suspended for their work on the case and ultimately had those disciplinary procedures overturned during a Superior Court hearing on the make-up of a Policemen’s Bill of Right’s hearing panel.
  While he always had the support of Menard for his appointment as Deputy Chief, Dubois did face a challenge from the Council on that step after members of the panel sought to raise the existing requirements for the post through the approval of an ordinance adopting a new job description.
 Woonsocket Attorney Howard Croll represented Dubois in a challenge of the ordinance and was successful in having it set aside for further review. Dubois retained his position as a result of the legal intervention.
 When connected on Tuesday, Croll said he could not comment on the status of his client’s employment in light of the recent turn of events.
 “I really not sure what his status is at this moment,” Croll said. “I’m not sure what is going on,” Croll said while noting he was away from the city Tuesday.
  “I know that I represent him at this point in time,” Croll said, adding he could not make any further comment without knowing more about his client’s intentions.
  At the police station Tuesday night, department members confirmed that Dubois had left with his belongings after visiting the station.
 Det. Sgt. John Scully said he expects an interim chief to be named during the afternoon press conference called by the mayor but did not see that as changing the way local police officers do their jobs.
  “I think it is time to put this behind us and I think its time we move the department in the right direction,” Scully said in support of the pending administrative changes.
 “In the meantime, it’s business as usual. Members of the police department will show up for work and do their jobs on a daily basis just as they have during all the controversy of the past two-a-half years,” Scully said.