Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) led a moment of silence to honor officers killed while working. | Photo Courtesy of Dan Caulkins website
Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) led a moment of silence to honor officers killed while working. | Photo Courtesy of Dan Caulkins website
The Illinois police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty during the last two years were honored at the Illinois Police Memorial May 6.
Under the presence of an honor guard, the 2020 names were read and engraved on the memorial on April 25, a ceremony that has been happening each year since the memorial was built in 1985. A public ceremony was then held on May 6 to commemorate Illinois' fallen officers from 2019 and 2020 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
On the same day on the House floor, state Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) echoed the list of the fallen 16 officers, correctional officers and deputies.
"These men and women were enshrined today on the Illinois State Police Officers' Memorial," Caulkins said. "I ask for a moment of silence to recognize their sacrifice and protecting all of us."
The ceremony to pay tribute to the fallen members of law enforcement occurs every year on the first Thursday of May.
The police memorial is one of several to be eyed for removal across the City of Chicago. The mayor's committee to identify the statues that may share the same fate has been secretive about which memorials were picked and why, according to Block Club Chicago, neither accepting nor offering an opportunity to give public input on the outdoor artwork and memorials until recently.
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