An Elgin police officer hasn’t died while in service since 1975, but that hasn’t stopped the Elgin Police Department from holding a ceremony to honor fallen officers annually for the last 21 years.
And so it was Wednesday, when the department completed the tradition yet again, remembering not their only their own members who died in 1975 and before but the 135 officers killed and 24 K9 dogs killed while in the line of dut7 in 2017.
The memorial service was also the last in Elgin for Police Chief Jeff Swoboda, who starts his new job at police chief in Fort Collins, Colo., on June 4. His retirement ceremony will be held May 31 at the Centre of Elgin’s Heritage Ballroom.
“For 21 years, we have remembered those killed in the line of duty … regardless of the community they represented,” Swoboda said.
Violence against police officers, he said, is an act of violence against a community. In Elgin, he said, officers are trained to help stop disorder before it occurs “and will show up to address any threat. They get up and go to work every day to protect others,” Swoboda said.
He also noted that some of the deaths in the line of service were the result of poor training. Swoboda praised Mayor David Kaptain and the Elgin City Council for providing high quality training for officers here, and his staff for being fit.
Half of the department recently took, and passed, a physical fitness test, he noted.
Swoboda said he felt a lot of emotions attending his last memorial service for a department for whom he has worked for 26 years, the last eight as chief. “The community does so much for us, it is like family,” he said.
