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n BY DAN CAMPANA
Standing at attention as the flags be- fore them hung at half staff, newly mint- ed Chicago Police Officers from gradu- ating class 19-07 paused for a moment on their final day at the department’s training academy to reflect on the lives of three brothers gone too soon.
An Aug. 21 flag ceremony paid trib- ute to Officer Marco DiFranco, Sergeant Clifford Martin and Officer Ronald New- man. Each died within three weeks of one another in April after contracting COVID-19, which was described as an “invisible enemy” during the event. Their deaths left a void for the wives, children and many others who loved them, but Lieutenant Dan Bartoli reassured them “the sacrifice your family made will nev- er be forgotten — know that your fami- lies will never be forgotten.”
DiFranco was a 21-year-veteran who worked narcotics. Martin, an Area Cen- tral detective, had 25 years on the job, while Newman spent 19 years with the department, last working in the 4th
District. The pandemic’s emergence in March “changed everything,” Barto- li said, describing both how the virus claimed the officers’ lives and disrupted the CPD class’ training cycle.
“What it did not change is your calling to become a police officer,” Bartoli told officers who would be deployed to the streets within hours of the ceremony. He highlighted how the class made a differ-
ence for the city long before their first shift by helping keep their fellow officers safe.
“You did that with a spray bottle. You ensured our equipment was safe so that we could continue to serve the commu- nities that we are in,” Bartoli explained, adding, “We are eternally grateful for that service.”
New CPD officers honor brothers lost to COVID-19
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56 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ SEPTEMBER 2020