Hundreds of police officers mourn Billerica Sgt. Ian Taylor at wake

METHUEN - They lined up by the hundreds as they made their way into the Cataudella Funeral Home Thursday afternoon. Law enforcement from communities across the state lined up in a procession for fallen Billerica Sgt. Ian Taylor.

Taylor, 49, was killed last week by an excavator as he worked a traffic detail at a construction site on Boston Road in Billerica.

Sgt. Taylor's wake was held on Thursday and featured a moving tribute by those who served alongside him.

"An awful day for the community"

"It's an awful day for the community," said Billerica Police Chief Roy Frost. "It's an awful day for my department. But it's an opportunity to really focus on the person that Ian was."

Taylor had been with the Billerica Police Department since 2011. Chief Frost recruited him to the department. "(He was an) Incredibly smart man," said Frost. "Incredibly confident but humble. He was a leader in every way. He was a mentor both as a human being and as an officer. He always had a bright smile he never had a frown."

Before Sgt. Taylor joined the ranks of the Billerica Police Department, he spent roughly a dozen years as a police officer in Lawrence. That department played a significant role in Thursday's wake.

"We are all in this together"

"It's really tough but we are all in this together," said Lawrence police detective Thomas Cuddy. "Ian was a beloved member of the department for a number of years. His father retired after 32 years with the Lawrence Police Department and his brother, Zach, is currently a detective with the department."

There will be a procession to take Sgt. Taylor to St. Patrick Parish for his funeral in Lawrence on Friday.