Chief Maloney 'Night of Heroes' to Honor Local Selflessness

[Editor's note: The original version of this story, first published Friday morning, incorrectly stated five individuals will be honored with awards during the Night of Heroes. Five awards will be given out, although the number of award recipients is greater than five. Apologies for the error.]


Chief Michael Maloney never sought the spotlight during his lengthy career serving the Seacoast, although his name will be front and center as five local heroes are honored for acts that exuded shades of the late chief's selflessness.

Five awards will be issued to public safety officials on Wednesday, Nov. 13, as part of the first Chief Michael Maloney Night of Heroes, an event coordinated by the Chief Michael Maloney Memorial Fund.

The ceremony is designed as a way to recognize exceptional acts in the line of duty as well extraordinary service over a career by a group of individuals that don't receive or seek out praise, according to Greenland Police Sgt. Dawn Sawyer.

"They are those people who always have gone above and beyond," said Sawyer, who is also the secretary for the memorial fund's board of directors. "They're the ones in the community always going the extra mile.

"For me personally, when I reviewed the nominations, it's kind of like that selflessness like Chief Maloney [displayed during the drug raid that claimed his life]. He went up on that deck and pulled people out to safety to get them to hospitals."

Maloney, a North Hampton resident and chief of the Greenland Police Department, was gunned down after a drug dealer opened fire when Maloney and other officers attempted to serve a search warrant at a home on Post Road in Greenland on April 12, 2012. 

Maloney rushed to aid another officer who had been shot, dying while getting that individual to safety.

Sawyer, who worked with Maloney in both the North Hampton and Greenland police departments, said fund representatives reached out to police officers, firefighters, paramedics and other public safety personnel throughout Southern New Hampshire and Southern Maine for nominations for individuals who have been heroic in various parts of their duty.

"It's not necessarily someone saving a life," said Sawyer. "It's that kind of attitude — that, 'If I die while I'm trying to save somebody, I'm doing my job and I'm happy doing my job. I'm here to save lives and if that's what it takes, that's what I'm going to do.'"

The Night of Heroes will take place at The Community Oven in Hampton from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 13. Sawyer said the event is invite-only because the memorial fund is also using the night to thank key supporters, sponsors and individuals who have helped them raise roughly $145,000 since Maloney's death.

"We want to bring them together and say, 'These are the heroes you're supporting because if one of them gets injured, you're supporting them,'" said Sawyer, who also said one of the recent recipients of the fund's money was the family of Sean Collier, the MIT police officer slain in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing.

Sawyer said Maloney would probably tell everyone organizing the Night of Heroes in his memory to "knock it off" if he were alive, although Sawyer said Maloney would be one of the first to thank the night's honorees if he could be present on Nov. 13.

"He was always very much recognizing," said Sawyer. "He was always the one to give you a pat on your back and give you a commendation in your file… but he was one who never wanted that. I think it’s important [to do this] to let everyone know what this is all about.

"We want to get out there that we're trying to do good by his name and not let people forget him."