By Emma Siebold
Despite the multiple fire trucks gathered at Linden School Park, the only smoke came from homemade pizza and hot dogs.
The sixth annual Malden Public Safety Day was held on Sunday, Oct. 6 and featured members of Malden’s Public Safety Department, local businesses and initiatives, free food and family-friendly activities.
“It’s nice to meet people and put names to faces,” Malden Police Officer Kevin Russell said. “We’re not always meeting people for fun reasons, so a setting like this helps.”
Police officers and firefighters walked around the event, engaging with the kids and introducing themselves to residents.
“We have some great officers in Malden,” Officer Conor Cloherty said. “It’s nice for the community and officers to work together.”
Russell and Cloherty worked at tables where they gave out goodie bags to kids and talked about their role in the community, equipment and answered questions from residents.
Local initiatives and organizations manned tables to inform citizens about their role in the community. The Bridge Recovery Center that opened in 2020 focuses on substance abuse recovery.
“We want to make sure people know that there are resources available,” said Casey McDougall, assistant program director. “The goal is to bridge the gap between addiction and recovery.”
Children were able to climb and see the insides of fire engines and public safety trucks—a loud horn pierced the air every few minutes when excited youngsters took over the wheel.
“They get a better understanding of the services that help people and what’s involved when they see a truck coming down the street,” said firefighter Joe Walklett.
As community members milled about and spoke in multiple languages, Police Chief Glenn Cronin commented on Malden’s increasing diversity.
“It’s changed so much for the better,” Cronin said. “Walking down Main Street, I could go on vacation in Malden and hit five different countries.”
“The kids absolutely love it,” said Malden resident Carolyn Lam. “It’s a great event that really connects public safety with the community.”
On top of meeting public safety officials, residents learned about fire safety tips, witnessed a
helicopter flyover, and enjoyed food from local businesses including 3rd Alarm Pizza. Company
owner Kevin Doherty, a Revere firefighter, pulled pizzas from a wood-burning pizza oven
attached to the back of a 1968 Mack fire engine and gave them away to the hungry crowd.
“It’s just a nice community event, get everybody out and meet the different departments,” Fire
Chief Stephen Froio said. “It gets us involved with the community.”
Emma Siebold is a journalism student at Emerson College. Her work appears as part of a collaborative partnership between the “Community News Reporting” class taught by Mark Micheli at Emerson College and the Neighborhood View editorial staff.
Thank you for sharing! This is so important for the community to meet their public safety people!