Naperville service to honor fallen officers

Most of us take for granted that when we leave for work in the morning, we’ll be home later that night.

Police officers don’t have that guarantee — last year alone, 158 were killed in the line of duty in the United States.

“It’s one of the things that we have to prepare ourselves for, that today could be the day that I don’t come home,” Naperville police Sgt. Gregg Bell said. “It’s more prevalent than in any other field. (Police) are in the line of fire every day, and an officer could encounter someone who is intent on taking their life.”

The Naperville Police Department and the Naperville Police Association of Chaplains will honor those men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice during the city’s annual Peace Officer Memorial Observance at 9 a.m. Wednesday, May 18, at the Public Safety Plaza, 1350 Aurora Ave.

It coincides with National Police Week, which runs through Saturday, May 21.

The event includes the memorial service and an official wreath presentation and flag ceremony by the Naperville Police Honor Guard, as well as a performance of “Amazing Grace” by the department’s pipe and drum corps and a 21-gun salute by the Carol Stream Police Department’s Honor Guard.

Only one Naperville police officer ever has been killed in the line of duty — Chief Robert Worthel, who died in 1927 when his motorcycle hit another vehicle while he was on his way to an armed robbery — but it’s important to honor everyone who has been killed, Bell said.

“As they say, if you don’t learn from the past, your future is doomed,” Bell said. “Every police officer who puts on a uniform is a walking target. So we pay respect and, hopefully, learn from the unfortunate things that happened. We’d like to see the numbers decrease, but the numbers have been going up the last couple of years.”

The event also is an opportunity for the public to get a little better appreciation of what police officers do and the daily risks they face that are just part of the job description, Bell said.

“If this was something the police department didn’t have to do, that would be nice,” Bell said. “But the reality of the profession is that police officers die in the line of duty.”