Mourning Officer Richard Francis, Chicago Police Department

I hope you will all join me in mourning the loss of one of Chicago's finest. Chicago Police Officer Richard Francis was shot and killed with his own gun early this morning. He died while on duty, out there in the tough streets of Chicago. He was willing to put his life on the line for you and for me, people he did not know. Officer Francis, like every other Chicago police officer, was there to do a tough job. Very recently, I had an unpleasant experience with an individual police officer. I filed a formal complaint with him, sitting in the office of 24th District Commander Steven Caluris as I gave my statement to a very polite lieutenant. I feel it is every citizen's duty to file such a report when one is merited. They won't say it publicly very often, but the good cops resent the bad ones, and the citizenry must step forward now and then to help the good cops maintain a good police force - and improve the one they already have. Having said that, I'll tell you that I was mugged in a Chicago subway station in the mid-1980s by two black guys. I don't hold their behavior against all black people. That would be irrational and unfair. They were two individuals acting badly. Similarly, I don't hold the actions of any individual police officer against all law enforcement personnel. That, too, would be irrational and unfair. We should never doubt that the vast majority of law enforcement officers are doing a job that 99.9999999 percent of us would not only refuse to do, but would not be capable of doing. They are extraordinary men and women. Listen to a police scanner sometime and you will hear dispatchers calling out to the officers on duty. A typical call: "Five males fighting, caller says two of them have guns. Any units nearby?" Would you eagerly put your life on the line to drive over to a bunch of guys, some with weapons, and that's all you know about them? Would you? The police officers do it regularly, every night. Without hesitation, I hear officers jump on the air to tell their dispatcher that they are on their way to what could be their last action. These men and women eagerly walk into danger, knowingly putting their lives in potential jeopardy with every routine traffic stop, domestic intervention, curfew stop, and so on. It's been said many times that the only thing keeping chaos at bay is the police. Listen to a police scanner some night, and you'll know that this is true. I have never been one those who call law enforcement officers "pigs." I have never hated the police. Here in Rogers Park, the Chicago neighborhood in which I reside, we have more than our share of people who do call police officers "pigs" and openly express their dislike for our police officers. You can bet that there will be at least a few patrons at the Red Line Tap and the Heartland Cafe tonight breathlessly expressing their pleasure at the death of another police officer. I hope those patrons get home safely tonight, but if they encounter trouble, will they call 911 to come save them? Or, perhaps, one of the many cop-hating supporters of 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore?