Dave Cataldo is a Boston Police Patrolman. Due to the many extraordinary things that he has done, he can be found easily on the internet.

Allstar Patrolman

Dave has been nominated as an Allstar officer. Dave is a model officer and the way he performs his duty should be an example for many fellow Boston police officers to follow.

Dave works at District E-5 and he just turned 46 a while ago in September, 2006. He has 2 kids - Katelyn and Nicholas, and he is a 20 years veteran in the force with 25 years of police experience. Like most law enforcement officers, Dave loves his family, his city and his job. Being a police officer allows him to help others – something Dave enjoys doing very much.

Dave seems to have a need to help people in need, even when he does not know them. When Dave finds out about a severe situation, he cannot sleep at night if he was not there to help. So in the case of 9/11, he took personal days to go to ground zero, just to make sure that he is available if anyone needs his help – and in his own words, “They would do the same if something happen to Boston.”

Dave Helped at 9/11
Globe Article on Dave

On 9/11/01, after the first plane crashed into the first tower, Dave was at home watching TV and the second plane crashed into the twin towers. He called the station and no one was sure what was going on. Everyone was expecting the worse. He went to work at 4 pm and at 4:30 pm, was evacuating Downtown Boston, preparing for the worse as though America was invaded. He asked if the department was sending a team down, but did not get a reply. The news showed much chaos and he did not want to sit around, knowing that there must be something he could do.

2 days after the planes crashed, he really wanted to go and can no longer wait for the department to send me. So he drove there myself on his days off. When he was there, he can feel widespread depression. The whole rescue effort was already well coordinated, and since he was not there officially, he was only allowed to Lower Manhattan, around the Mayor’s Mansion. For 2 days, he helped out in regular traffic control and patrols, like the work he did everyday here in Boston.

Though Dave feels that he did not accomplish anything fantastic, he felt glad that he was there to give support to others in their time of need.

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the gulf coast, leaving widespread destruction and flooding. Dave was watching the news and saw widespread damage. There was many people left behind after the storm and they needed help. He sent in his request to the department and put his name down as a volunteer to go if they ever send a team down.

Dave's Katrina Experience



After Hurricane Katrina stuck a lot of police officers in Boston were more than ready, willing and able to volunteer to go to New Orleans to help out with the relief effort underway. But the department’s plans were put on hold until the advance team made the trip and reported back. Knowing that there is something that he can do to help and staying at the comfort of my home made him decide that he had to be there, to give the survivors both physical support and moral support.

A week after Katrina, Dave could no longer wait and he took a week of vacation time and went south to help. It took Dave 2 days to drive south, and he decided on Mississippi because he saw somewhere online that Louisiana only wanted "official" department sponsored personnel. Since he did not have that, Mississippi was the logical choice, not to mention, he heard that Biloxi had been hit the worst. He had no solid plans and just wanted to help.

When he was getting further south, the widespread destruction was getting worse. Dave felt nervous and did not know what to expect. The surroundings are getting worse the further south. There was even a point were he felt a sense of hopelessness.

On his way down route 49, there was nothing to illuminate the surroundings except the car’s headlights. He began to see the first real bad signs of the damage from the storm. Huge trees were down on both sides of the road, there was debris on the ground including power and other wires. In the City of Gulfport, Mississippi, as he drove further down the highway towards the beach area the damage he saw was incredible, It looked like a war zone where bombs had been dropped.

At about 2AM on the morning of the 10th Dave entered the City of Gulfport, Mississippi. He reached a check point near the downtown area and was unable to proceed any further so he turned around and headed back towards the temporary command post. Dave pulled in the parking lot and found a collection of different police agency vehicles, some from Florida, Ohio and cars from Gulfport PD. He didn’t want to wake up any of the officer's who may have been inside trying to get some rest. He woke up to find a parking lot full of cruisers and officer's changing shifts. He headed over to the front of the administrative building and introduced himself and asked whom he should speak to about helping out. A Gulfport police Lieutenant named Chris told Dave he would run him over after the roll call and assignments were given out.

The conditions there were not optimal. Some officers were sleeping on the floor in sleeping bags at a local school, others pitched tents in law enforcement zones. Everyone was working on a 12 hour work – 12 hour off shift without any days off.

When Officer Bryan Swann found out that Dave had been sleeping in my car for 2 days, he ordered Dave to stay at his house. Dave mentioned to Bryan that he was worried about his car since the transmission was slipping. Bryan conferred with some Harrison County Sheriff Deputies assigned to escort duty about getting Dave’s transmission fixed at their facility. Dave felt really bad as he was in town the first day, he had done nothing to help these officers out and was already staying at Bryan's house and Bryan was trying to get my car fixed. Dave was touched by their southern hospitality.

Dave was on a 12 hours work - 12 hours off shift. He also performed escort duty and had been assigned to a truck terminal for huge shipments of bottled water and ice. he was also assigned to provide security for the FEMA intake facility. He also did some traffic control at a scene of an accident. On one occasion, he helped pass out food to the survivors.

Dave saw pleasure and fishing boats of every shape and size. Some capsized and other's thrown like children's toys out of the water that littered the landscape. Bryan, an officer Dave met, told him that there were still bodies on some of those boats and they were as of yet unable to reach them. When they passed the check point into the South sector and arrived at the beach. The first building Bryan pointed out was basically a concrete slab and some pilings that held up part of the rooftop and a sign that read "Gulfport Fire Department Station #3." Someone had placed an American flag near it. The destruction was total, there had been homes and business's, restaurants and public buildings. Now all he saw were rubble and twisted wreckage, vehicles smashed beyond recognition, debris hanging from the few tree's left standing and sets of stairs which led to nowhere. He saw destroyed homes and other buildings with signs painted on them in spray paint, there was a coded message in these signs. It gave the date and location of the search and if the structure was found to be empty or if anyone was found alive. If the sign was spray painted in black, it meant there was a fatality found in the structure. The street had tons of debris of every sort piled high on both sides.

Dave summarized his experience on the officers he met there:
“The cops are paid much lower that here, and they took really good care of me. They’re proud, dedicated, would give you the shirt off their back and ask nothing in return. All of them lost something. Some lost everything. Some may have even lost loved one's or people they cared about. But they showed up everyday to work and did whatever was asked of them and things that were not asked of them. I can't say enough good things about the brave men and women of the Gulfport PD. They were the real Heros.”

Dave felt honored and privileged to have been able to work with all of the officers there. When he was saying goodbye, he started crying and after several hugs and trying to tell Bryan what a privilege it was to work beside Officer Bryan. As Dave pulled out of the parking lot he saluted. Although unseen by most, the salute was for the men and women of the Gulfport Police Department, their support staff, and the volunteer's from all the other agencies. And most of all for Bryan.

Dave felt glad that he made the trip to help the officers there. Though he only performed mundane duties, he felt that he did something to help out the overworked officers.

Other links with Dave Cataldo

Dave Cataldo watched the "World Trade Center" Movie
West Roxbury Transcript
TownOnline with Dave helping with Gun Arrest.

He does not consider himself a "Hero" but I believe in the eyes of his peers, Dave is certainly a guy you could count on.

Keep up the good work.