A blow to ‘Boston’s Finest’Photo by:
Faith Ninivaggi
Donnie Wahlberg, right, confers on the set of ‘Boston’s Finest.’
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Gayle Fee“Boston’s Finest,” Donnie Wahlberg’s reality show that highlights the pressures the Boston police deal with both at home and on the job, was rocked last night when one of the officers featured in the first season took his own life.
Wahlberg, executive producer of the unscripted TNT series, was set to debut the first episode of the second season at the Revere Hotel along with MayorTom Menino, interim police Commissioner William Evans and members of the department who are featured in the show. The event was abruptly canceled when word reached them of the officer’s death.
“I am deeply saddened by this tragedy,” a heartbroken Wahlberg told the Track last night.
The BPD said the “unfortunate death of a member of the department,” is under investigation as a “non homicide” and asked the media to respect the family’s privacy until the next of kin was notified.
Prior to the shocking news, Wahlberg had spoken about the stresses the cops face, both on the street and in their personal lives — an ongoing theme in “Boston’s Finest.”
“I think people were stunned to learn what some of these cops deal with,” Wahlberg told us. “At work, there’s bullets flying by, then at home one officer is raising a child with autism, another one has a sister who is addicted to crack. But they show up every day and do their job.”
The officer who died was featured in several episodes during the show’s first season but only briefly in the second, which begins in the aftermath of theBoston Marathon bombings. Wahlberg said many of the officers profiled in “Boston’s Finest” were first responders to the scene of the terror attack.
“Four of our officers were at the house in Watertown when the second (alleged bomber) was captured, so they were a big part of it,” Wahlberg said. “I think people had a lot of respect for the Boston police before the bombings, but since that happened, there’s been a lot more attention on the show and people really got a great sense of how awesome the men and women of the Boston Police Department are.”
Wahlberg credited outgoing Mayor Menino for championing the show, saying it was his vision to have it portray the human side of the BPD.
“The credits say executive producer Donnie Wahlberg, but it could easily say executive producer Mayor Menino, because he is the single most responsible person for this show,” Wahlberg said. “We came in with all these Hollywood ideas of what the show should be and he saw it as a way to humanize cops, period.”
Sadly, sometimes those all-too-personal stories end tragically.
“Boston’s Finest” is scheduled to return at 9 p.m. Tuesday on TNT.
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