Boston Police Department Among the Many Massachusetts Police Going to NYPD Funeral
Hundreds of police officers from all across Massachusetts are heading to New York City today to attend the funeral of one of the two New York Police Department officers who were shot and killed in the line of duty last week.
Boston Police Department sent about 500 officers to represent the city and to express its grief over the death of Rafael Ramos, who was killed Dec. 20 in Brooklyn after he and his partner were allegedly ambushed by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who is accused of seeking deadly revenge for the recent unrelated police shooting deaths of two unarmed black men.
Five large buses filled with BPD officers departed around 4:30 this morning from Florian Hall in Dorchester.
“We are honoring the services and sacrifices of those who make the ultimate sacrifice,’’ BPD Officer James Kenneally told Boston.com. “Whether it’s in California or New York, the fact that we’re all part of same brotherhood and sisterhood, that loss is felt by everybody.’’
New York Police Department Officers Rafael Ramos, left, and Wenjian Liu, were killed Dec. 20.
Other local police departments are also sending their own officers and echoing Officer Kenneally’s sentiments.
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“What happened in New York City, we all relate to. They were the target but it really could have been anybody. Those guys were just assassinated sitting in the radio car just shot to death,’’ Norwood Police Chief William Brooks told WHDH.
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The Quincy Police Department is represented, as well, according to NECN:
We did a volunteer sign up sheet. Fifty officers, which is the largest contingent I’ve ever seen, to go to a funeral, and we’ve hired a bus, and they’re all going to go down early in the morning, 4 o’clock in the morning, the day of the funeral,’’ Quincy Police Lt. Jack Sullivan said.
The Massachusetts State Police were in New York yesterday to honor Ramos and will be there again today, according to a brief statement issued on its Facebook page.
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Police departments ranging from the MBTA Transit Police to Arlington to Brookline to Newton to Revere to Waltham to Amesbury, and Merrimac also made the trek down I-95 to support their fellow officers.
The Boston area wasn’t the only part of New England paying their respects.
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New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton, who briefly led BPD in the 1990s, posthumously promoted Officer Ramos and his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, to Detective First Grade during the funeral, according to a tweet from CBS New York.
The Associated Press reported that funeral plans for Officer Liu have not been announced yet.
Most of the BPD officers are expected to make the return trip to Boston today, Officer Kenneally said.
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