A great cop, a good friend and my former partner Matt.
I don’t write much about the Police side of my life. Part of it is that I am still a serving officer and feel like it isn’t my place to write about the Job. Part of it is that I am a housecat these days. I haven’t been on “the street” in seven years. There’s nothing exciting about a desk job and therefor not much to write about. You could be forgiven for thinking that I am a “retired cop”.
Last night was the 2025 Providence Police Community Foundation Gala Dinner. When it was first announced, I was going to let my inner curmudgeon win out and not go. I have nothing against Gala’s. I just don’t think of myself as a “black tie” kind of guy. My good friend Tina was one of the driving forces behind the whole thing. She’s the reason I ended up going.
Tina and I met when she was a community organizer working with a non-profit in the Olneyville neighborhood of Providence. Her organization had won a DOJ crime prevention grant, that brought a lot of partners together. Academics from a local university, cops, non-profits etc.
On paper in the 20-teens Tina and I were not supposed to be friends. She came from a background as a community organizer and I was a forty-year old, cop. We each brought our opinions to the table. We approached each other wearily but over time that gave way to mutual respect and then genuine friendship. Later Tina came to work for my department to help us better reach out to the community we serve.
Based on our early, rocky start, I have a hard time saying “no” to Tina. I checked with the Long Suffering Wife to see if she wanted to go. She opted out, she’s a bit past the point in life where seeing a bunch of cops have few drinks and tell war stories is interesting. I ponied up the money for a ticket and selected Filet Mignon as my dinner selection. Thinking that the writing gig also offered opportunities for black tie events I bought a tuxedo.
Yesterday I paid a little extra attention shaving. Last thing I wanted to do was cut my face open like I had two Saturday’s ago. Blood and black ties only sounds good at a mystery writers convention. I got a my hair cut and then at the appointed hour put on the brand new Tuxedo. I was mildly dreading not dreading going to the gala. That’s just my way of it.
I was being silly. I immediately ran into a close friend and his wife. We had gone through the academy together, worked together for years and even served in the Army Reserve together. We waited in line for drinks and I was pleased to see a lot of friends and classmates. Friends who I hadn’t seen in months because our career path’s had gone in different directions. Cops from other shifts, specialized jobs, and then my job at the courthouse keeps me away from Central Station which doesn’t help.
Speeches were given. Dinner was served and some very good cops were given awards for their good work. They were well deserved, ranging from charitable works that officers did, to lives saved or the one cop who made 48 gun arrests in one year. That is a staggering amount of guns to take off the street.
It was all told a good night. I got to hang out with some good friends. There was a lot of hugging and even a few “I love you man” to be heard. Not just friends but some people whom I genuinely think of as brothers and sisters. Academy classmates and peers. People who trained me or I trained. Cops whom I went into some hairy situations with and managed to make it back safely. Lots of people I respect and like. It was good to see all of them and good to see some cops get the recognition that they deserved.