Help Your Police
 
Police Memorials
 
         Between Soldier Field and Burnham Harbor the Gold Star Memorial and Park sits on five acres of Park District land.  When it is complete, it will be among the largest police memorials in the nation.
    
    The Police Memorial Foundation is a non-profit organization that collects donations to support the families of fallen officers.  Donate here.
 
    The Fraternal Order of Police established a monument to fallen officers outside their hall located at 1412 W. Washington Boulevard.  See photos here.
 
    For years, Haymarket Square was marked by a statue of a policemen, placed there to commemorate the officers who died in the incidents. After it was bombed by radicals in 1969 and 1970, however, the statue was moved inside the city's Police Academy for safekeeping. In 2004, a statue designed by Mary Brogger was placed on the sight. It is intended to offer a balanced perspective on this still controversial event. Check it out on Des Plaines between Randolph and Lake Streets.  See a photo here.
 
    Meanwhile, the original Haymarket Martyrs’ Monument, erected by supporters of the executed labor activists, can still be seen in Forest Home Cemetary.  See photos here.
 
 
Police Oversight and Legal Aid
 
    Citizen’s Alert is Chicago’s oldest police accountability organization that lobbies for improved law enforcement practices and represents victims of police brutality.  Founded in 1967, it has been in continuous operation ever since.
 
    The Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project at the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic at the University of Chicago attempts to enhance police accountability and improve police services in Chicago through a combination of litigation and non-litigation strategies.  It is headed by law professor Craig B. Futterman and staffed with law students at the University. The clinic also provide legal aid to the indigent.
 
    First Defense Legal Aid is a volunteer organization of lawyers on call 24 hours a day to represent anyone arrested in Chicago.  Because Cook County Public Defenders usually are unable to see their clients until the first trial date, Firs Defense fills an important void.
 
    The Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago has 40 years of experience offering legal help to Cook County residents.  The Foundation offers both legal advice and, in some cases, representation.  (http://www.lafchicago.org/)
 
    Students for Human Rights at the University of Chicago maintain a good website concerning the ongoing Jon Burge police torture cases.
 
 
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Image sources
Officer with gun:  Chicago History Museum.  Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN-0090277. Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum.