Members of the Lynn Police Department joined Attorney James J. Carrigan on his LCTV show, “The American Dream,” this week to discuss police safety.
The show, which airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., and Saturdays at 7 a.m. on Comcast Channel 3 and Verizon Channel 38, is “designed to give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at how public and private policy is developed,” according to Carrigan. He was joined this week by Police Chief Christopher Reddy, Sgt. Pete Alexander, and Patrolman Tom Morley.
The conversation, which ran for just less than an hour, began with Carrigan joking with Reddy about his roots in the city.
“Chris, you went to the University of Lowell, and more importantly you went to St. Mary’s in Lynn,” Carrigan said. “You’re a part of the St. Mary’s family.”
“That’s right, lifelong Lynner,” Reddy replied.
On a more serious note, Carrigan brought up the issue of police safety. He mentioned how three of his nephews were police officers, and how his family always knew there could be a real problem when they had to go out on the job.
“We have difficulties, locally, statewide, and nationally, attracting young people to the job of becoming a police officer,” Reddy said. “There’s a lot of reasons for that, but one of them is the risks and safety are certainly a consideration.”
“We have a prevalence of guns in our society, and we certainly know that in Lynn and other urban communities, gun violence is a real problem. But our officers have to deal with that every single shift,” he added.
