The
first gray wisps of an early spring dawn flashed in the flinty eyes of Captain
John Parker as the Lexington Minutemen dozed fitfully in Buckman’s Tavern,
across from the Lexington Green, on the epochal morning of April 19, 1775.
The alarm had been sounded by Paul Revere but a few hours earlier …
“The Regulars are coming! The Regulars are coming out!”
Shortly after dawn, the drum call to arms was
sounded by William Diamond. Captain
Parker and his seventy-six minutemen took a position in two thin rows on the
Green to confront the eight hundred Red Coats approaching from Boston. What follows is known: eight brave minutemen, who had pledged
their estates and everything dear in life; yea, and life itself in the support
of the common cause, lay dead. The
first blood shed for young America that cold New England morning made Lexington
“the Birthplace of American Liberty.”
Source:
Lexington Bicentennial Corporation
The
Lexington Police Department’s shoulder patch prominently displays the
Lexington Minuteman Statue. The
statue is a representation of Captain John Parker awaiting the arrival of the
British Red Coats. The flagpole is
centrally located on the Battle Green and is visible beyond the Minuteman Statue
as one approaches the Green westbound on Massachusetts Avenue, the British
marching route. “Birthplace of
American Liberty” and the year “1775” recognize Lexington’s
distinguished place in American history.
The
Lexington Police shoulder
patch has evolved over the years. In
1965, Chief James F. Corr designed a triangular patch with similar features in
Lexington’s blue and gold colors. Shortly
after the bicentennial, the patch was modified to the present acorn style with
bolder lettering. In 1998, the
patch colors were changed to match a new darker blue uniform.
A second patch with a brown color scheme was also introduced for the
civilian traffic uniform.
