A memorial of crimson and white flowers and blue ribbon with the wording ‘Hero’ grew on prime of a cruiser exterior the Waltham Police Department on Thursday, whereas neighborhood members stopped by with lunch and different donations.
Less than 24 hours earlier than the outpouring of neighborhood assist, Paul Tracey, a 28-year veteran of the division, drove the cruiser for the ultimate time, to a element website on Totten Pond Road.
Tracey’s profession through which he saved and altered numerous lives got here to an abrupt finish when suspect Peter Simon allegedly drove into the element website, killing him and National Grid employee Roderick Jackson, 36, of Cambridge.
Officers and utility staff packed Waltham District Court for Simon’s arraignment early Thursday through which the decide held the suspect with out bail on two counts of manslaughter and a slew of different fees.
“We just want to thank the Waltham community for the tremendous outpouring for our brother Paul,” Jim Tracey stated of his brother whereas talking to reporters exterior courtroom. “He was a tremendous husband, father, uncle, and brother, and loved by everybody in the community. Anybody who knew him, his laughter, his compassion. It will be missed.”
Tracey’s notable achievements had been acknowledged close to and much.
Gov. Charlie Baker honored Tracey with a quotation on the State House in 2018, weeks after the officer, off obligation and on household trip, helped save the lifetime of a lady who overdosed on medication on a Cape Cod seaside, Boston 25 reported on the time.
Closer to residence, Zackary Malerba, a 2019 graduate of Waltham High School, stated if it wasn’t for Tracey and his spouse Kristin Tracey, a college useful resource officer within the metropolis, “I would never have gone through high school and be where I am today.”
Whenever Tracey visited the college, he’d be keen to talk with college students having a tough day, Malerba instructed reporters exterior the police division. “It changed a lot of us.”
Tracey’s ardour in giving again to the neighborhood included two unsuccessful campaigns for a City Council seat, in 2019 and simply final month.
“I’m not afraid to say that I am from Waltham and know the history very very well. I attended the schools and have been employed here most of my entire adult life. I did not move or come here with opinions or views to make Waltham a community it’s not, like a Somerville or a Cambridge,” Tracey instructed Patch in October.
“Waltham is a very desirable community to live in,” he continued, “and it needs elected representatives who are not afraid to represent the very people who live, work and contribute here on a daily basis, time and time again.”
Resident Meredith Macivor stated she didn’t know Tracey personally, however she wished to cease by the police division Thursday to drop a bouquet of flowers on prime of his cruiser as an indication of assist.
Whenever she noticed him round city, he had a smile on his face, she instructed reporters.
“It just brings tears,” Macivor stated of Tracey’s demise. “We never want anything to happen to them. They put their lives on the line but you don’t expect it.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”