Lake Co. police remember fallen comrades
Police officers from throughout Lake County gathered Friday to remember those of their ranks who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
The annual Police Memorial Day ceremony was held in front of the Lake County sheriff's office in Waukegan, and drew about 75 officers and spectators.
Sheriff Mark Curran told the crowd that all 16 of the officers killed in the line of duty in Lake County were heroes, and offered the story of the only one from his office.
Deputy Gary Murphy was a God-fearing family man, Curran said, who joined the sheriff's office upon his return from Vietnam in 1972.
On June 14, 1976, Virginia Piggott, a woman Curran said had a history of criminality and mental illness, began firing a gun in the direction of children playing near her Knollwood home.
As Murphy and other deputies arrived, Piggott retreated into her house and police used tear gas to force her outside.
Still holding her pistol, Piggott sat down in her driveway, and Murphy and Deputy David Greene rushed her. In the course of a struggle for her gun, Piggott fired one bullet that passed through Greene's biceps and into Murphy's abdomen.
Murphy, 29, died from his wound the following day.
Piggott was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was committed to the state Department of Mental Health.
"Scripture says a man shows no greater love than when he lays down his life for another," Curran said. "We live in a fallen world where many times the only thing standing between good and evil is law enforcement."
The first officer known to have died in the line of duty in Lake County was St. Paul Railroad Police Det. Patrick Owens, who was shot to death Aug. 25, 1894; the most recent was Highland Park Officer Robert Reinman Jr., who was struck by a car Jan. 6, 1984.
Lake Bluff Police Chief William Gallagher told the assembly an officer is killed every 53 hours in this country. In 2007, 181 died on duty.
"Please take time to remember those officers who did not make it home after their final shift," Gallagher said. "Take the time to say thank you to a police officer the next time you have the chance."