Page 37 - FOP JUNE Newsletter

Gordon also used his remarks to challenge current me- dia and political viewpoints of law enforcement.
“My greatest fear is that we’re going to add another name to this memorial – that I’m going to bury another brother, and we cannot have that,” said Gordon, whose father is retired from Riverside police and another broth- er is a Berwyn police officer. “I challenge some of our politicians and lawmakers to get together. Come up with some laws to protect law enforcement. Allow them to be proactive...let’s allow them to do their jobs.”
Angelo – who called Gordon’s comments “incredible” – noted that Chicago is fortunate to have the memorial foundation and the 100 Club of Chicago, which provide “deep, multi-layered organizational and personal sup- port,” and have supplied millions of dollars to help fami- lies of officers who died on the job.
“We’re lucky in Chicago because of the memorial foun- dation and the 100 Club of Chicago of Cook County and Lake County,” Angelo said. “Police officers know who their support comes from, and it comes from within. That’s our family.”
Attending the memorial event also framed certain per- spectives for Casiano and Angelo. Casiano said it’s a re- minder of how much the job has changed since he start- ed, but it strengthens for him the idea of what it means to be a police officer.
“When an officer, the one who stands between evil and good, is taken defending those who can’t defend them- selves, it is truly, truly a tragedy,” Casiano shared. “I think this profession, it’s a very honorable profession. There’s
no doubt we’re moving in the right direction. Officers are still going out there, even after the media beats them up, and they’ll put on that uniform, put on that star or badge, put on that duty belt and go out there and serve today as they have in past years.”
The memorial prompted Angelo to reflect on his days as a field representative and the difficult assignment to media call outs on three police officer murders in the same calendar year.
“I was like, ‘Oh my god, when does it stop?’ Those things come back. You never forget. That’s the message, you nev- er forget,” Angelo said.
Gordon noted earlier that the phrase serves as the foun- dation’s motto and provides some comfort to families who have lost a family member or friend in the line of duty.
“As survivors, that’s all we want. We just want the name of our fallen officer to continue. As difficult as these cere- monies are, we long for them because it’s an opportunity to honor that fallen officer,” Gordon said.d
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