After a May 31 groundbreaking ceremony, the Niles Police Department hopes to have its new police memorial installed near its station entrance, 7000 W. Touhy Ave., by early fall.
Some $52,000 of private funds toward the final cost of $55,000 already has been raised for the statue of “The Protector,” depicting a Niles officer holding the hand of a female child, said Detective Sgt. Michael Boba, who is overseeing the project for his department.
The memorial will honor police killed in the line of duty everywhere. But, specifically for Niles, veterans like Boba who were on the job in April 2005 won’t ever forget the village officer who lost his life in the department’s history.
Boba said “The Protector” also is aimed at recalling the life of Steven Zourkas. He died on the midnight shift when he swerved his squad car, which overturned, in avoiding a pedestrian on Golf Road. Zourkas was racing to respond as backup to another officer fighting with a patron at the Omega restaurant.
“It was a horrible time for us as a department then,” Boba said.
Municipal police memorials are not all that common, Boba said. He knows of “less than 10? in the Chicago area, including Palatine and Mundelein. State and federal memorials have been built in Springfield and Washington, D.C., respectively.
The idea originated a year ago with Niles Police Chief Luis Tigera.
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“We always say we’ll never forget, so wanted a visual reminder,” said Boba. “It would be a where place where the Police Dept. and the public could stop and remember. We’re a department of people that will sacrifice for others.”
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But the relative scarcity of memorials is usually due to the cost. So Niles put together a committee to spur private fund-raising. Members include Boba, Tigera, Village Trustee Dean Strzelecki, Niles resident Dan Balzano and two local business owners, State Farm agent Jeff Curry and Rick Oppermann of Diamond Design.
“We were fortunate enough to get a couple of large donations, but we’ve also got residents throwing in donations of $50 and $25,” Boba said.
Once the donations reached the $50,000 level, the committee commissioned Brodin Studios of Kimball, Minn., to design and construct the statue. Brodin designs other police and military memorials.
Boba said Brodin came up with the title of “The Protector.” The police officer figure, depicted in a Niles uniform, will be five feet tall, while his child companion will be three feet tall. Both will be placed on a four-foot-tall pedestal.
Annual ceremonies around the statue might be held in April, to commemorate Zourkas’ death or during May in conjunction with Police Memorial Month, said Boba.
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