Police chiefs from around the state will serve as the pallbearers.

08:47 AM EDT on Thursday, April 21, 2005

BY GREGORY SMITH
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- An estimated 5,000 uniformed police officers and firefighters from New England are expected to march in somber pageantry in a funeral procession for Detective Sgt. James Allen today.

A televised Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated for Allen at St. Thomas Church, 65 Fruit Hill Ave., at 11 a.m., and then the march will proceed from a separate staging area in Providence to St. Ann Cemetery in Cranston.

Allen, a Providence police detective, was shot and killed by a robbery suspect Sunday at police headquarters.

At least 150 law enforcement agencies and fire departments are expected to be represented in the march, according to the latest available count.

With the agreement of Allen's father, retired Providence police Capt. Lloyd Allen, the junior Allen's casket will be borne by eight current or former police chiefs from Rhode Island cities and towns who also served in high rank in the Providence Police Department.

In addition to Johnston Police Chief Richard Tamburini, a friend of the Allens who organized the pallbearers, they will be: Warwick Police Chief Stephen McCartney; Lincoln Police Chief Robert Kells; Department of Environmental Management Law Enforcement division chief Steven Hall; former North Providence Chief William Devine; former Providence Chief Richard Sullivan; former Smithfield Chief Vincent O'Connell; and former Scituate Chief William J.G. Lawton Jr.

"We were all shocked by the news [of Allen's death], we all respected him so much and we love the Providence police. We just felt having chiefs be pallbearers would make a statement," Tamburini said.

For the procession, the casket will be carried on a horse-drawn caisson.

U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin had a tribute to Allen entered into the Congressional Record yesterday.

Seating will be limited for the Mass, as the church has an approximate capacity of 450 on its main floor and 200 in its downstairs hall. Police Lt. Timothy Lee said about 100 additional people can be accommodated in the auditorium of the church school.

Some unreserved seats will be available on the main floor of the church, but Lee said those are likely to fill up fast.

TVs showing a live broadcast of the Mass will be set up in the church hall and school auditorium and outdoor speakers will carry the audio portion of the broadcast, according to Lee.

Channel 12 and Channel 10 are scheduled to provide live coverage of the funeral beginning at about 10:30. Channel 6 will cover the Mass only, beginning at 11, broadcasting on the Rhode Island News Channel on Cox Cable Channel 5.

The event is expected to snarl traffic in the vicinity of the route of a planned motorcade from Nardolillo Funeral Home in Cranston to the church, between the church and the staging area at Plainfield and Murray streets in Silver Lake, and then along the route of the 1.3-mile procession to the cemetery. Certain streets will be blocked off in Providence, Johnston and Cranston.

The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority announced that service will be suspended on Routes 17 (Dyer/Pocasset) and 27 (Manton Avenue) during the procession.

There will be detours on bus Routes 18 (Union Avenue) and 19 (Plainfield Street) during the same period. RIPTA said riders should call (401) 781-9400 for information.

With a report from staff writer Liz Anderson.