Providence and Cranston police are planning for a massive procession of police officers from around the country when Detective James L. Allen is buried tomorrow.

09:37 AM EDT on Wednesday, April 20, 2005

BY AMANDA MILKOVITS and GREGORY SMITH
Journal Staff Writers

PROVIDENCE -- The teletype message went across the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System wires Monday afternoon like a shout heard by every police agency in the nation.

"It is with a deep sense of sadness that Colonel Dean M. Esserman and the Providence RI Police Department Announce the Line of Duty Homicide of Detective James Allen," stated the message in capital letters. "Detective Allen was a highly decorated 27 year veteran of the department. He was fatally shot while interrogating a felony assault suspect."

Those 50 words are bringing an estimated 10,000 police officers to Providence to march in the two-mile funeral procession tomorrow.

At least 1,000 officers are expected at Allen's wake this afternoon at the Nardolillo Funeral Home in Cranston. Tomorrow, the massive procession and somber ceremony to honor the well-liked detective will close streets in Providence and Cranston for hours.

Allen will be eulogized at his family's St. Thomas Church in his boyhood Fruit Hill neighborhood. His coffin will be carried by horse and carriage and escorted by thousands of officers and honor guards in the march to his burial in St. Ann Cemetery in Cranston.

Two hours after the department sent out the teletype, Chief Dean M. Esserman issued an order promoting Allen posthumously to detective sergeant and awarded him the Medal of Valor and Purple Heart ribbons.

The bizarre and tragic circumstances of his death have shocked and devastated the Police Department, where Allen served for 27 years and where his father, retired Capt. Lloyd Allen, had also worked.

Allen was shot to death just after midnight Sunday while he was interviewing a suspect about a stabbing hours earlier. The police said that Esteban Carpio suddenly overpowered the 50-year-old detective, grabbing his gun and killing him, then shooting out a window and leaping three stories to the ground. Carpio was caught by the police 45 minutes later on a downtown street, just after he'd called for a cab to take him to Boston or New York City. Carpio is being held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions.

Allen's manner was meek, his fellow officers said, but his humble demeanor hid a perceptive mind. For the last decade, Allen had investigated cases on the East Side, from small break-ins to high-profile murders. "His witnesses and complainants, they always got 110 percent," said Detective John Finegan.

Now, the public and other police officers are giving back.

Police agencies are volunteering to provide officers so the Providence police can attend Allen's funeral. Chiefs from other departments are calling and asking what the officers need. Peer support officers from other agencies are volunteering to come in and counsel the Providence officers.

The department set up a phone bank to handle the calls from officers attending Allen's wake and funeral. At the police union hall, Sgt. Robert Paniccia, union president, and Officer James Bruno were fielding calls from officers looking for hotel arrangements.

Others were calling the union hall just to give their condolences. "Anybody who came in contact with Jimmy says they can't believe this," Paniccia said. "He was a great guy."

People are sending flowers and having pizzas delivered to the detectives bureau, and leaving sympathy cards at the station. A resident in Mount Hope, where Allen had worked, set up a memorial to the detective under the boarded-up window where Carpio had leaped.

Angela Moran, of Providence, offered her time. She told the chief that she was a city resident who was sorry about Allen's murder, and she wanted to answer the phones so an officer could go to the funeral.

"We do all care," Moran said. "It's like a small community. It's like a member of our own family died. If a police officer can't be safe, then citizens can't be safe."

During a news conference Monday to thank the community for its support, Chief Esserman invited the public to "grieve with us."

The wake is today from 4 to 8 p.m. Officers are conducting a walk-through at 3 p.m. Allen's body will be in an open casket, wearing his dress blue uniform and with his medals and ribbons on his chest, said Thomas Norato, manager of the Nardolillo Funeral Home.

The Providence police color guard will stand by Allen's casket all afternoon, said Sgt. Tabatha Glavin. "We will stand at his hands and feet, to honor and protect him," she said.

The funeral is tomorrow at 11 a.m. at St. Thomas Church, 65 Fruit Hill Ave., Providence, where Allen's family worships.

The small church seats about 600 people. Police officers are meeting at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in the morning and will be bused to the church. The former Almacs building at Plainfield Avenue and Murray Street will be used as a staging area for the overflow crowd of officers. It wasn't clear yesterday where the overflow crowds could view the funeral.

The Providence police honor guard will lead the procession, followed by honor guards from other departments. The procession before and after the funeral will close streets and divert traffic for about six hours, affecting traffic in Providence, Cranston, and Johnston.

The state Department of Transportation will place closure signs on the Route 6 ramps to Killingly Street.

At 10:15 a.m., a motorcade will bring Allen's casket from the funeral home to the church for the funeral Mass. Afterwards, the motorcade will continue from the church to where the rest of the officers will be assembled at Plainfield and Murray. That's where Allen's coffin will be placed on a caisson, and officers will march with it to the cemetery, where a ceremony will be conducted at an outside altar.

The Rhode Island State Council of Churches has set up a fund for the Allen family. All contributions will go to this fund. Checks payable to the state Council of Churches, marked "Allen Family Fund," can be mailed to 225 Chapman St., Suite 303, Providence, RI 02905.