A 9-year-old girl who died of cancer earlier this year will forever be honored by the police department that made her an honorary police officer last year.
The police department commissioned a local artist to create two portraits of honorary Police Officer Madeline Guarraia. One is on display at the Waterford Police Department and the other was given to her family.
“As many of you know, our police department has a special bond with Officer Madeline Guarraia, our M-8,” Waterford police said in a Facebook post.
Guarraia lived in East Lyme, but her parents are Waterford teachers and Waterford police made her an honorary officer after learning Madeline loved police officers and police dogs.
That bond between Madeline and the police department grew and she would go on patrol with officers. The last time was during a shift the month before she died in April after going through five years of cancer treatments.
The police department commissioned the portraits thanks to the "Chief's Contributed Gifts" fund, which is made up of donations for community-based items, as well as a donation from the Pendleton Foundation, founded by the retired chief and his family.
Over the years, the "Chief's Contributed Gifts" fund has paid for portraits of deceased officers, which are displayed in the hallways, reminding current officers of those who served before them, police said.
Underneath the portrait, a plaque with Officer Guarraia’s name says, “Rest easy, we’ll carry it from here.”
“As Officer Guarraia was special to many local communities, we hung her picture in the Police Department lobby, so that anyone could see it when they stopped by,” the police department’s Facebook page says. “We encourage you to stop by and take a look.
Madeline is always with us in spirit, we just have a way of permanently commemorating her service with us now.”
