Nick Reina wanted a birthday surrounded by police officers, flashing lights and the kind of emergency vehicles most people only see when something has gone wrong. Instead, his mother helped turn that wish into a full-blown celebration, with more than 20 police and fire vehicles joining in for a parade built around his lifelong love of law enforcement.
The Somerville Police Department shared video of the celebration Monday, showing Nick talking with officers, riding in a police cruiser, playing with its lights and siren, petting police K9s and collecting even more department patches. The footage also shows agencies from across the region coming together after Nick’s mother reached out to arrange what the department described as his dream birthday, as seen in the Somerville Police video.
A Birthday Built Around Police Patches
Nick’s request was straightforward: meet officers, add to his patch collection and spend time around cruisers. The celebration delivered all three, along with a parade that included Cambridge, Sharon, Lynn, Rowley, Watertown, Andover, Gloucester, Brookline, Massachusetts State Police, Somerville and several police, campus police and fire agencies from the region.
The Somerville Police Department said Nick also made lifelong friends during the gathering. For a birthday boy who has spent years visiting police stations and collecting patches, the event offered something more lasting than another piece of embroidered fabric: a day of face-to-face connections with the people behind the badges.
Nick’s Police Connection Goes Back Years
This was not Nick’s first major celebration with first responders. In 2022, WHDH reported that officers and cruisers from several nearby departments gathered in Salem, New Hampshire, for Nick’s 30th birthday, complete with sirens and an honorary sheriff’s deputy hat.
A 2024 report from the Somerville/Medford News Weekly described Nick as having autism and noted that his mother, Sheri, had taken him around New England to visit police stations and collect challenge coins and patches. At the time, the report said Nick had more than 1,000 patches and was thrilled to drive in a cruiser, play with the siren and receive specialty patches from Somerville officers.
A Parade That Put Community Policing In The Spotlight
Police departments often talk about community connections in broad terms, but Nick’s birthday gave that idea a very literal form: a convoy of vehicles, officers answering questions and K9s ready for introductions. The celebration also showed how a single family request can become a regional show of support when agencies decide to make room for something joyful.
There was no emergency to solve and no investigation to announce. Just Nick, his mother and a remarkably large group of first responders making sure his birthday looked exactly like the dream he had in mind.
