 Meriden police, church remember abandoned baby 26 years later 
 
 By Lauren Sievert Record-Journal staff 
 
 MERIDEN — Members of the police department and a local church gathered in the freezing weather to remember the baby boy abandoned in a parking lot in 1988. "The child was found on the ground near a tree, wrapped in a blanket on the morning of January 2, 1988," retired Detective Sergeant Keith McCurdy said. The baby was named David Paul, which means “God’s beloved little man” in scripture, and was officially adopted by the city police department. As for the idea that David Paul has come to represent all the kids police have sworn to protect, they say that is even more important this year, just a little over a year since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary. "The Meriden Police Department unofficially adopted this child and cared for this child's burial," McCurdy said, "and we think David Paul represents all the children who are abused, neglected or abandoned."
– It's a 26-year tradition now in Meriden, Conn., and one with a somber start: On Jan. 2, 1988, police found a newborn boy frozen to death outside. He had been wrapped in a blanket, but the full-term baby with blond hair and blue eyes stood no chance in the frigid weather. Police took up a collection and paid for his burial, reports WTNH, and members of the local clergy named him David Paul. Today, as they have on every Jan. 2 since then, police and others in the community gathered at the cemetery where the baby is buried. "The Meriden Police Department unofficially adopted this child and cared for this child's burial," says a retired detective sergeant, "and we think David Paul represents all the children who are abused, neglected, or abandoned." The local Record-Journal notes that Connecticut has since passed a Safe Haven law that allows a mother to leave her baby at a hospital within 30 days of birth, no questions asked.