Elvis Presley always had a fascination with law enforcement and wanted to be a policeman as a kid. He befriended the members of the Denver Police Department that he used as his security detail when in town. Elvis was always buying his friends cars and bought a new Lincoln Mark IV for Police Captain Jerry Kennedy (see the story here). Elvis even had a double breasted Denver police uniform made for himself.
After the shooting death of Police Officer Merle Nading in 1971(on Colfax & Gaylord), Presley stepped in to donate the funds to complete the police gym at 3555 Colorado Blvd that Nading had begun to work on. The police department used the space as a gym and a cop shop until the mid 2000s when it was sold for use as a church. (I actually identified a burgler in a photo lineup in that building in 2003)
The site will soon be a Walgreens.
Photo of Elvis in Vail (in his double breasted police uniform) with Denver Police Captain Jerry Kennedy & Officers Cantwell & Pietrafeso, Courtesy of elvispresleymusic.com
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