Fox Lake officer purged from website that honors fallen cops

A website that honors police officers who died in the line of duty has removed all references to Fox Lake police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz.

The Officer Down Memorial Page removed Gliniewicz from its list of fallen officers Wednesday morning after authorities confirmed that he had taken his own life.

"Suicides are never listed on the Officer Down Memorial Page, especially in a circumstance like this," said Steve Weiss, a member of the site's board of directors. "So we removed him immediately."

Also, after news broke that investigators said Gliniewicz staged his own death, a community Facebook page paying homage to him - We Remember Police Lt Joe Gliniewicz - was taken down. The page had 25,685 "likes."

Weiss, who was traveling home Wednesday after attending the funeral for a New Mexico police officer, said it was "pretty alarming" to learn that investigators say Gliniewicz stole a large amount of money from the police Explorers post he oversaw.

"It's something that no officer can hear and do anything but shake their head at," Weiss said.

Weiss said he "feels terrible" for Gliniewicz's kids, who now have to deal with this after losing their father. "It's going to be tough for them," he said.

"It's an unfortunate situation all around," Weiss said. "I really feel horrible for the family. They're the innocents in this whole thing. They're left holding the baggage, unfortunately."

The Officer Down Memorial Page is a reminder of how many police officers have died in the line of duty through the decades. For Illinois, that number stands at 1,062, including three this year.

Meanwhile, Weiss said incidents where officers are involved in some type of corruption "are the exception - not the norm."

"When an officer does something like this, it does violate the public trust," he said, "and people have a right to be outraged when something like this happens."

Weiss said cops who break the law make it more difficult for other police officers to do their jobs.

"The public trusts the police and understands what the police do," Weiss said. "At the same time, they hear something like that, and it makes them think twice sometimes."