In the News

On November 12, 1985, two Springfield police officers made a routine traffic stop on State Street not far from the Friendlys restaurant. It was like any number of stops cops make many times a shift. Maybe they suspected something about the people in the car. Maybe not. Within hours one was dead, the other barely clinging to life.

Michael Schiavina and Alain Beauregard were just doing their jobs when both were shot and mortally wounded by an 18-year-old who had an arrest warrant out for him.

“They were nice people doing what we do every day. And we still do,” Police Commissioner Cheryl Claprood said of Schiavina and Beauregard. “They did a traffic stop, and that’s how fast things can go bad in this job. It’s a reminder to us all.”

Schiavina died shortly after surgery that night. Beauregard lived for several days before dying of his wounds.

Eduardo Ortiz died several days after that, shooting himself with the same gun he used to shoot and kill Schiavina and Beauregard.

Claprood knew both officers and served with them as young cops. On Saturday, she joined more than two hundred people, including Governor Charlie Baker and U.S. Representative Richard Neal as a memorial park was formally dedicated at the Mary Lynch School on North Branch Parkway. The Beauregard and Schiavina Memorial Park adjacent to the school includes a regulation soccer field, practice areas, accessible play grounds and walking paths, and a chance for a community to remember not only the two named but all Springfield police officers who died in the line of duty.

Claprood said she believes ceremonies like this pay tribute to those who died, but at the same time educate those out there working on the streets.

“I’m glad we have dedications and memorials like this because those of us who remember should be telling the stories to younger officers so they know,” she said. “A lot of the younger officers have no idea who Alain Beauregard and Mick Schiavina, or even Kevin Ambrose, are. We need to keep remembering.”

After Beauregard and Schiavina died a recreational field on state property on Tinkham Road was developed and named in honor of the two. Unfortunately it fell into disrepair and became useless after a while. That’s when fellow officers stepped into find a suitable memorial space.

Retired Springfield Police Sgt. John Delaney was one of them. Delaney organizes the Ride to Remember, a police-oriented bicycle ride from Springfield to Boston that raises funds for various causes. One of those causes is the Schiavina and Beauregard Memorial Park.

“We raised more than $200,000,” he said.

Delaney knew both men; Beauregard was his training officer when Delaney was a rookie cop, and Mike Schiavina was in his Police Academy class. He was working the night the two were shot and had to respond the crime scene.

The memorial field serves as a point of focus for the public to remember, Delaney said.

“What a lot of people don’t think about is behind these guys are families and friends who do care and remember,” he said. “We put this field together so that no one forgets about them.”

The park was developed using School Department property near the school along with $900,000 in city funds, the Ride to Remember contribution and a Parkland Acquisition and Renovations for Communities (PARC) grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is a modest price to pay homage to Schiavina and Beauregard in a fitting way — creating a sports and recreation facility — Mayor Domenic Sarno said of the park.

“It’s a fitting legacy that this park is here to have families come together,” he said. “It makes us a prouder Springfield.”

Maura Schiavina said the memorial park is a continuation of the support and recognition her family received from the city since her brother died.

“That recognition has never left us since the day Michael died,” she said. “We have always had the support of the city and police department.”

When the original Tinkham Road field did not pan out, Schiavina said people like then-State Rep. Paul Caron and Delaney stepped up to make the memorial park a reality.

Doris Beauregard-Shecrallah called the field a “beautiful tribute” to both officers, but especially for her husband, Alain.

“He loved sports, especially soccer,” she said. “Knowing that children would be here playing soccer, it is a beautiful memorial. I am hoping that when people come here, kids, parents and their grandparents, they go to the plaque and look at the names of police officers who have served the City of Springfield and recognize they are true heroes.”