SCHENECTADY — It’s been 14 years since Police Commissioner Charlie Mills walked the streets of Hamilton Hill, but the affection for him still runs deep.

With the loss of the Charlie Mills Neighborhood Network Center, which was closed last year, neighbors built a flower bed at Jerry Burrell Park this summer to keep his memory alive.

They didn’t write a dedication or erect a plaque, but their feelings for him were passed on to the next generation, seed by seed.

“The children helped with all of it — they didn’t stop until it was done,” said Marcia Mariani. “I told them all about him, that we were building him a garden because he loved the Hamilton Hill neighborhood best.”

The children absorbed some of the message.

One girl said Mills was a “special person” who died at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

But none of the children understood quite why this man was so important to their elders.

“I just like to plant flowers because I like them,” said Qwashanaye Lennon, 5, who spent hours painstakingly placing flowers in the topsoil despite the allure of nearby slides and swings.

The stories she heard while she worked may sink in over the next few years of gardening. Mariani and the others have no end of stories to tell.

“He would drive around, talk to anybody,” said neighbor Darlene Lee. “He had integrity and a commitment to make this neighborhood safe. People here had a lot of respect for him.”

But he left Schenectady 14 long years ago.

“It seemed as if the memory was beginning to fade,” Lee said. “We didn’t want him to be forgotten. People wanted to remember there were people who cared about this city and public safety.”

The group also added flowers to the bed under the Jerry Burrell Park sign and built a flower bed around the tree that is decorated every Christmas.

“It’s a subliminal thing,” said Darlene’s husband Fred. “Even if people don’t notice the flowers, it gives them an upbeat feeling when they go there. The expression of flowers is an expression of healing: it’s a sign of life and growth and renewal.”

Plus, he said, it’s easy to do.

“Planting flowers is something almost anyone in the neighborhood can get involved with,” he said. “It was great having the kids.”

The group was stunned by the reaction from residents who saw them working.

“People stop and volunteer — they say, ‘I’ll dig, I’ll plant, anything you need,’ ” Darlene Lee said. “I think we’re the only ones in the city whose park garden did not get vandalized.”

She said the park needed flowers to make it as beautiful as other city parks.

“We’re just a neighborhood like anyone else,” she said.

As she plucked a few dead flowers from the beds Wednesday, residents walked up to thank her for her work.

“It’s beautiful. Just awesome. I appreciate what you do for the community and to brighten up the community,” resident Vincent Winfield told Lee. “Before, the park was plain and simple. This brings a little life to the park.”

Lee grinned.

“This is why I do this,” she said. “This is the single most gratifying thing I have ever done in my volunteer life.”