Ernie's dad Sam was the auxiliary coordinator when I was on the Braintree Auxiliary....super nice guy, but from what I heard, he was a broken man after Ernie was killed. I can't say I blame him. I've heard stories that the rainbow fleet was so that citizens would know which color cruiser was assigned to their neighborhood, so they could report any officers out of their area. That doesn't make sense, since I often get sent to areas of Quincy I haven't seen in ages when the priority calls start getting stacked. Kilv, were you on BAPD when the Dianne DeVanna murder happened? I'm thinking about using that incident as a case study for school, and as I'm sure you know, the first officers on-scene that night were auxiliaries. I may have to pick your brain via PM. Here's a trivia question for you.....when Braintree PD retired the rainbow fleet and went to blue & white cruisers, what was the motto on the sides of the cruisers?
Sure it makes perfect sense... Citizen: That officer in the orange car cut me off!!! Sgt. We know exactly who that is and we will take care of it!!!
Fra didn't Fall River have numbers on the back doors of the cars at one time that took up the entire door panel and also on the trunk that took up the entire trunk lid? I know Middleboro had a rainbow fleet for a while too. Must have been a 70's thang.
Absolutely sbd.... As rumor has it the numbers were that big so that citizens could identify the car so as to make it easier to make a complaint against the officer...
I was beaten to the punch on the trivia question. Just as well, I was drawing a total blank! Help at your fingertips WAS in use during the rainbow fleet days. It replaced, "Helping Our Citizens In A Colorful Way!"
If you look close, you can see that the bays for the Fire Department seem empty. I can picture a couple of jakes across the street talking: "Well, we HAD to move the engines, what if we got a call?" "Yeah, the damn cops took 20 minutes to get the cars lined up, it would take an hour to get them moved if we had to get out." "Yeah, cops are dumb." I got to ride in the back of one of those suckers when I was a kid after being bitten by a neighbor's dog. It was more fun though when Dad came around and gave us kids rides around the neighborhood.
The DeVanna murder happened during "Town Takeover". Remember that? That was such a savage crime, people like us still remember it to this day; http://devannacenter.org/ Some people brag about how tough their academies were, blah, blah, but NOTHING could have prepared those 2 auxiliary officers for the Hell that they walked into that night. http://www.wickedlocal.com/braintree/news/opinions/x563239113#axzz26VlFPMQG
I made my first felony arrest on a town takeover. Armed Robbery of a Photomat at King's Plaza. Most cooperative suspect I've EVER encountered. We got him at 5 Corners. Spontaneous Utterances galore. It was awesome. How many of you kids out there are saying: Photomat? King's Plaza? WTF?
The officer next to the brown cruiser on the left is Charlie MacDonald, who was friends with my dad and also one of the people who got me interested in police work. He died suddenly back in the early 80's, very unexpectedly. His daughter just friended me on Facebook after I mentioned how influential her dad was on me.
Charlie was a FANTASTIC guy. I worked McDonald's one night and he dropped by, invited me in to sit in the cruiser and (maybe because of MY Dad) talked to me like almost an equal as opposed to a 20 yo special. I got out of that car and floated above McD's until the end of the detail. That was especially an honor since he was known as not being a big fan of specials overall, yet he had class when dealing with people. The ptl. and sgt. look familiar, but I'm at a loss for names. It was so long ago. Funny, I can't help but wonder how many members on this site weren't even born when this photo was taken. S7, was and still is the supervisor (well, 817 now).
I'm almost certain the patrolman on the left is Tom Tierney, who worked for something like 4-5 different CS police departments before he finally settled in Quincy, where he retired as a sergeant about 7-8 years ago. BTW...you gotta love the cigar in the sergeant's left hand.
You mention cigar and, I could be WAY off, but the name Lenny Torey suddenly hit me. I think it may have been him. I really got to get my Dad over here to see some of these pics. The John Wayne Gacy House being torn down, must have been a very happy day for the neighborhood and I can almost hear various realtors discussing the issue: "Yeah, it had to go, how the hell do you move THAT?" "Easy, lots of folks like stuff like that. Don't you watch haunted house movies?" "You're kind of sick, aren't you?" "Yeah, maybe, but with what I could charge for that place to some thrill seeker, I'd put you ALL to shame." "He's right, plus, anyone who would want it for those reasons is sicker than him, AND isn't making money." "Unless they start charging people for tours in a few years. Lizzie Borden house anyone?" "Oh yeah. Shit."
Hard to tell at that angle, but I think it might be Lenny Torrey. He was a lieutenant when I was with Braintree Auxiliary. Didn't he get shot at the Shaffer Pharmacy robbery at 5 Corners?
yup. That night, I went for a walk. Thought of heading down to the pharmacy and buying a MAD or something but ended up going down and roaming the Plaza. As I left the Plaza headed for 5 corners I see Quincy cruisers SCREAMING up Granite St. and couldn't help but wonder what the hell they were racing up Granite for. When I bumped into a couple of friends from the neighborhood they told me what had happened. When I got up to 5 Corners, it was a mess so needless to say, I kept my distance, but I DID stay to observes the scene. Bob Devin was shot at the Suisse Chalet. Both were within a year or so of each other.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/braintree/news/opinions/x563238573#axzz26nBzJ1bU I think after the Susse Chalet robbery is when they started hiring a detail at night, which I believe continues to this date with the Motel 6 that's there now.
In reading the 'Wicked Local" item, I could see that report was VERY well written and shows what a tough SOB he was. Another one of the GOOD guys.
That article also brought back some memories, such as Dailey's Farm Stand and Bella's Restaurant. Officers Ciolek and Donoughue both later sued the department over being denied appointment as special officers to work details after their retirements.
I've confirmed that the patrolman is Tom Tierney, and the sergeant is Lenny Torrey. Tom went from Braintree to Norwood to the MDC to Quincy. When I asked him what political juice he had to get 3 CS laterals, he just laughed.
I drank behind Daily's from time to time and before that it was a cool thing when we were old enough to walk down there and buy fruit. When you hear CEMENT HEAD, what do you think of...without actually typing it here?!?
1957 - Quincy Sergeant James Mullin uses a new 2-way radio. We still use the same hat & breast badge designs.
