October 23, 2018
By Geoff Spillane
State convention will acknowledge Gannon shooting, aftermath.
PLYMOUTH — The Cape and Islands will be well represented at the 118th annual Massachusetts Police Association convention this week.
Yarmouth police Sgt. Sean Gannon, who was shot and killed while trying to serve an arrest warrant in Marstons Mills in April, will be honored, along with several department colleagues for actions taken in the aftermath of the tragedy. Peter McClelland, a retired Yarmouth K-9 officer, is slated to receive the association’s Distinguished Service Medal for his care of Nero, Gannon’s K-9 partner, in the days after the incident.
In addition, state Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Truro, will receive the organization’s “Legislator of the Year” award.
More than 500 delegates are expected to attend the convention, which will take place at the 1620 Hotel in Plymouth through Friday. The award presentations will be made during a luncheon ceremony Thursday afternoon.
“People think the Cape is a place you go on vacation, not necessarily a place where violent crime happens,” said Arlington police Lt. Richard Pedrini, a member of the association’s executive board and its legislative aide. “But it’s everywhere.”
Cyr sponsored a successful amendment to the state’s fiscal 2019 budget, bolstering municipal police training funding through a statewide $2 per rental car transaction fee.
“We had been trying for years to get a dedicated funding source,” said Pedrini, noting that before the Cyr amendment, municipal police training was a budget line item subject to underfunding.
“It’s a tremendous honor and I’m very humbled, but what’s more important, though, is that we got this done,” Cyr said of the award. “This was a good idea that languished on Beacon Hill for far too long. I’m proud to have worked with the entire Cape and Islands delegation — and other lawmakers — on this bipartisan effort.”