Champaign police to honor officer killed in 1913

CHAMPAIGN — Police in Champaign plan to honor an officer who was killed 100 years ago in a shootout involving an alleged bootlegger.

The News-Gazette reports that police plan a ceremony Saturday afternoon at police headquarters. They will honor Thomas Dodsworth, who was 48-year-old when he was killed in the line of duty July 6, 1913. He was trying to arrest a bootlegger at the time.

After the service a squad car will lead a procession. It will go past Dodsworth’s former home and the spot where he was killed to the cemetery where he is buried. Officers will place a wreath on his grave.