A CLOSER LOOK

A public ceremony honoring Westbrook Police Chief Pierre Harnois on the 50th anniversary of his death is Friday at 4 p.m., at the Public Safety Building, 570 Main St., Westbrook.

The Westbrook Police Department will remember a former chief, who was killed in a shootout 50 years ago, at a ceremony Friday afternoon.

Just 32 years old and a little more than a year into his stint as Westbrook police chief, Pierre Harnois died during a standoff in Limerick on May 14, 1959.

Remembered as an exceptional athlete and officer, Harnois will be honored for his service and his sacrifice at 4 p.m. Friday outside the public safety building.

Police Chief Bill Baker said a few history buffs from his department had filled him in on the details of Harnois’ death, and when someone mentioned the 50th anniversary was coming up, he “thought it might be nice to reach out to his family.”

Baker had also learned that a detective he knew in the Portland Police Department, Andy Hagerty, happened to be Harnois’ nephew, and asked him to speak at the ceremony.

“It all just came together,” he said.

According to Hagerty, a couple dozen of his family members are planning to attend the ceremony, including one of his three living sisters.

Though Hagerty, 40, was born 10 years after his uncle died, he said, his relatives talked about him all the time.

“I kind of grew up with him, even though he wasn’t around,” said Hagerty, who has heard all about his uncle’s athletic achievements at Cheverus High School and his career in law enforcement.

“He was a legend,” Hagerty said.

Westbrook police will present Harnois’ family with the flag that’s flying in front of the Public Safety Building and will dedicate the patrol room to the former chief.

Representing his family, Hagerty will give a short speech about his uncle. Had Baker not contacted him, he said, neither he nor many of his family members would have known it was the anniversary of his death.

“It’s real nice of Westbrook to recognize that,” Hagerty said. “He was just an amazing guy.”

At the ceremony, the department will also recognize Capt. Tom Roth, who recently graduated from the FBI National Academy, and Thomas Roche, who is being promoted from officer to sergeant.