Annie Wilcox: Worked to build bonds between Boston Police and residents for last 28 years.A Dorchester woman who has worked to advance bonds between the community and Boston Police for the last 28 years will be honored by UMass Boston at their Community Breakfast next week. Annie Wilcox will receive the Robert H. Quinn Award for Outstanding Community Leadership at the event on April 2.

Wilcox, 67, who worked as a civilian at three different police stations until her retirement in January, is a native of Memphis, Tennessee. Inspired by Boston University graduate Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., she moved to Boston to attend school. Wilcox attended BU’s School of Management, earning a Bachelors in Business Administration and her Masters in Business. Wilcox began working with BPD by assisting the Captain of the B-2 district in Roxbury’s Dudley Square.

She was nominated for the Quinn Award by her colleagues at her most recent posting— the Area B-3 police district that covers parts of Dorchester and Mattapan. Wilcox has been instrumental in organizing the district’s regular community meeting that attracts more that 250 attendees a month. Also, she organized an annual Senior Harbor Cruise that recognizes and services over 300 seniors from Mattapan. She also assists B-3 police in planning special programs for youth, including the B-3 Clean-up Crew, which creates summer jobs that give youth a productive outlet and allows them to earn their own money.

Capt. Haseeb Hosein, who commands the B-3 district, has worked with Wilcox since 1992. He says Wilcox’s service has positively impacted Boston “in the quality of service that the police department delivered [and] in the number of events that the police department was able to deliver to the community above and beyond what was required.”
According to the nomination of Lieutenant Timothy Torigian, Chief Community Service Officer for the Boston Police Department in B-3, Wilcox has developed a rapport within the entire community.

“Whether the person in need is an abused child, a victim of domestic violence, a victim of a violent crime, a resident with a problem, a young person in need of guidance or an officer in need she is always the first one ready to assist,” Torigian noted in his nomination letter.

Captain Hosein agrees, calling Wilcox “irreplaceable.”

“She is a trailblazer and role model for so many young officers […] she impacted me in so many ways,” said Capt. Hosein.

Wilcox remains humble about her service.

“I know that [these] communities are communities that I love and embrace. I thank the community for allowing me an opportunity to serve them.”

She also commends the Boston Police Department.

“There is transparency, there is accountability, there are checks and balances, and they are a champion of law and order. They know the difference between justice and injustice,” said Wilcox.

The Quinn Award is named for the late Robert H. Quinn, a Dorchester native and former Massachusetts Attorney General and Speaker of the House of Representatives. Quinn played a critical role in bringing UMass Boston to its present home on Dorchester’s Columbia Point. In a column published in the Reporter last week, UMass Boston Chancellor Dr. J. Keith Motley said Wilcox “upholds the spirit” of Quinn “in the many ways she embraced her community.”

William “Willie” Ostiguy will also be honored at next week’s breakfast. Ostiguy, a longtime Boston Fire Department employee, has been a driving force in the city’s recovery community.

The annual UMass Community Breakfast begins at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 2. The event is an invitation only event. For more information, contact University of Massachusetts Boston Office of Community Relations at 617-287-5310.