Burrillville man headed to Criminal Justice Hall of Fame
Charles ‘Ted’ Dolan, a 23-year member of the Pawtucket Police Dept., to be inducted Tuesday
Charles “Ted” Dolan is not exactly sure what made him more deserving of induction into the Rhode Island Criminal Justice Hall of Fame than any other police officer, but he’ll take it.
“I was stunned,” he said. “I don’t feel I’ve done anything than any other police officer who goes to work every day.”
A news release from the Rhode Island Office of Attorney General described Dolan by saying, “His exceptional work ethic, leadership sense and commitment to those he served carried him throughout his career. He may have been known as the toughest cop in Pawtucket but that did not stop him from going out of his way to help others. This was particularly true for young people.”
Dolan, a 23-year member of the Pawtucket Police Department who rose to the rank of captain, is being inducted into the Rhode Island Criminal Justice Hall of Fame at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick on Tuesday evening.
The other inductees are: •Jamie Hainsworth, U.S. Marshal for the District of Rhode Island, and former Glocester Police chief
•Col. Kenneth Mancuso, Cranston Police Department (retired)
•Chief Anthony Pesare, Middletown Police Department, and former Rhode Island State Police major
•William Powers, Associate Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court (deceased)
•Joseph Walsh, former mayor of Warwick, state senator and state representative
Dolan worked for the Pawtucket Police Department from March of 1964 to February of 1987, rising from the ranks of patrol officer, detective, sergeant, lieutenant and detective captain.
One of his most memorable moments in the department occurred in 1976, when he walked into an armed robbery at a Cumberland Farms near his home. Dolan, now 75, was off-duty and happened to be picking up some bread and milk at the store.
“I walked into an armed robbery and I didn’t have a weapon, and like a fool I chased the guy out of the store,” Dolan said, “and he attempted to shoot me but the gun misfired twice.”
Dolan was able to take the robber into custody.
This happened a few months before Dolan went to the FBI Academy.
He was known for his work with youth, between coaching American Legion Baseball for seven years, partnering with social workers to help at-risk families, and becoming the first “Officer Friendly” in the state.
Officer Friendly is a nationwide program the Sears-Roebuck Foundation sponsored to acquaint children with law enforcement officials. Dolan explained that he would go grammar schools, talk about things like stranger danger, and give students coloring books to fill out.
A few weeks later, he would return and give students certificates for their participation.
While nearly getting shot was a frightening moment in Dolan's career, a heartwarming one was seeing the expression on two parents' faces when he returned their 6- or 7year-old child, who had been missing for about 45 minutes.
“I found a lost child after school once, and I was only a patrolman in uniform, and the child got off the wrong bus,” he said.
Dolan was born and raised in Pawtucket. He graduated from Tolman High School before getting a degree in administration of justice from Salve Regina University.
He said of his decision to go into law enforcement, “I had several friends that were police officers, and I was impressed, you know. They were close friends, and one of them was a captain, and I was impressed with their work.”
After leaving the Pawtucket Police Department in 1987, he worked as inspector general for the Rhode Island Department of Transportation and then administrator of the Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles, retiring about 10 years ago.
He now lives in a lakefront cabin in Burrillville for 4-5 months of the year and in Fort Meyers, Fla., during the colder months.
Tickets for the ceremony on Tuesday, which are $30, can be purchased by emailing ricjhof@gmail.com or calling 401-274-2335.
Attorney General Peter Kilmartin said of the inductees in a news release, “Rhode Island is a stronger, better place because of their contributions to the law, their sense of right and wrong, and the belief that it is their duty to improve the communities in which they work and live.”