Paul Strong

On Tuesday, May 26, 2026, Paul Strong of the Everett Police Department opened the Everett Medal of Valor Ceremony for Detective Dan Wall by welcoming attendees and thanking them “for coming” and “for showing support for, detective Wahl.” He began by saying, “Good evening, everyone,” then called for the presentation of the colors and asked the audience to stand: “At this time, I am going to call for the presentation of the colors,” followed by, “Honor God, present colors. Please rise.” Strong also observed a moment of silence.

He took a moment to recognize veterans in attendance, saying he saw “a lot of veterans in the crowd there” and thanking them “for their service for this great country.” He then told attendees, “You may be seated,” and repeated his appreciation for the turnout: “Again, thank you everyone for coming. I appreciate your support today.”

Strong explained the purpose of the ceremony and directly identified the honoree: “Today, we are recognizing the heroic actions of Detective Dan Wall.” He described the Medal of Valor standard as an award for an officer who “in the performance of an act of courage involving risk of imminent danger to his or her life” acts “above and beyond the call of duty” to save or protect human life, adding, “which exactly that’s what detective all did on that day.”

He then invited National Trustee FOP Rich Shaler to sing the national anthem, and afterward commented, “Another outstanding job, Bishop.” Strong transitioned into the incident being recognized, saying, “Right now, I wanna talk about the event that took place on 07/31/2025.” In the course of that discussion, he praised the relationship with city leadership and the department, stating, “we could never ask for a better partner than, chief Strong and the Everett Police Department,” and quoting the mayor’s praise that Everett has “the best trained, best equipped, best police department in all of Massachusetts.”

Strong concluded by thanking the mayor and the audience again, saying, “Again, I just wanna thank everybody. I appreciate your support at this time,” and then called “the honor guard to order.” No votes were taken during the ceremony.