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Somerville officials honor life, work of slain MIT officer

SOMERVILLE, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- The city of Somerville honored the life and work of 27-year-old MIT Police Officer Sean Collier Thursday.

Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone asked the State Legislature to allow Somerville to posthumously appoint Collier to the Somerville Police Department.

On Thursday night, Collier became a member of the police department during an emotional ceremony.

City officials say Collier served the department for six years as a civilian employee, a volunteer auxiliary police officer and sergeant, and an unpaid intern. Collier was serving as the department's webmaster prior to his death.

"We've always considered him to be a part of the Somerville Police Department family," said Police Chief Tom Pasquarello. "There isn't a person here that he didn't touch in some way."

Pasquarello adds that Collier was always willing to help and that he "never said no."

Collier was expected to be offered a job as a sworn officer for Somerville on June 3, 2013. Somerville Police sponsored his enrollment in the Transit Police Academy.

"This small gesture recognizes both his past service to the Somerville Police, as well as the many years of outstanding service that we all know he could have proudly given our entire community," said Mayor Curtatone.

Collier was fatally shot in his police cruiser on April 18, three days after the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people. Authorities say he was shot by the bombers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The Middlesex District Attorney's Office says they are building a case against the lone surviving marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.