As part of our 150th anniversary celebration, the Wilmington Police Department will be hosting a Peace Officers Memorial Day Observance on May 12, 2022. Peace Officers Memorial Day is observed nationally on May 15 each year to pay tribute to the local, state, and federal peace officers who have died, or who have been disabled, in the line of duty.
“We don’t have an exact number, but we estimate that approximately 300 men and women have served as Wilmington Police Officers over the last 150 years,” stated Chief Joseph Desmond, “Since we are celebrating a milestone anniversary, we wanted to take the time to honor all them for their service to our Town.”
In addition to honoring all past Wilmington Officers, the Department will also pay tribute to three Massachusetts police officers that resided in Wilmington who were killed in the line of duty:
Woburn Police Officer John “Jack” Maguire was shot and killed on December 26, 2010 when he responded to a robbery in progress at a Woburn department store.
MIT Police Officer Sean Collier was shot and killed on April 18, 2013 in Cambridge during the large scale manhunt for suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing.
Massachusetts State Trooper Thomas Devlin died on September 3, 2020 as a result of injuries sustained on July 26th, 2018, when he was struck by a vehicle on Route 3 in Billerica, while conducting a traffic stop.
The Wilmington Police Department would like to invite all members of the community to attend the ceremony. “We hope to get a great turn out at the event,” stated Sergeant Matthew Stavro, the event coordinator, “we want to especially welcome our retirees as well as the families of our current and former officers.”
The event will be held in front of the Wilmington Public Safety Building on Thursday, May 12 at 6:00 pm. For more information, contact Sergeant Matthew Stavro at mstavro@wpd.org.
