Community Corner
Video: 2011 Aquidneck Island Police Parade
The parade on Sunday honored those who have fallen in the line of duty and celebrated the camaraderie of law enforcement officers across the continent.
The 28th Annual Aquidneck Island National Police Parade was graced by a sunny spring day, crowds of spectators and more than 150 organizations who stepped off in Middletown before noon on the first Sunday in May.
The parade was coordinated by Detectives Corey Huck and Frank Rosa of the Newport Police Department who also lead the memorial ceremony at the commencement of the event. The ceremony honored the one hundred and sixty one fallen law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty from Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin served as this year's Grand Marshall for the parade, which stepped off from the Hampton Inn in Middletown and made its way past hundreds of spectators along the route to the reviewing stand in front of the Newport Police Department.
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Law enforcement agencies from as far away as Quebec, Canada joined in the festivities in full dress uniform and were greeted by handshakes and hugs from "brothers and sisters" in arms.
The crowds were also entertained by brass and pipe bands from all over country. The local Rhode Island Highlander Pipe and Drum Band and the Newport AOH Pipe and Drum Band were joined by the U.S. Navy Band, the NYPD Emerald Society Pipe and Drum Band, the NYPD Brass Band and the United New Jersey Pipe and Drum Band, to name a few.
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Residents and visitors of all ages were treated to an afternoon of pageantry and fun at this annual event of remembrance.
