Fallen Officer Honored

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jul 7, 2008 4:38PM

Hundreds of citizens, firefighters, politicians, and police officers from the Chicago-metro area attended a wake yesterday at Cooney Funeral Home on Irving Park Road in honor of Chicago Police Officer Richard Francis. Francis was killed in the line of duty last week, the first such police death in Chicago in six years. A funeral procession and service at St. Monica Church were held this morning. Among those who showed up to the wake were former players for the football team Francis had coached at Welles Park over thirty years ago. Many, especially his colleagues at the Chicago Police Department, remembered him fondly.

Among those in attendance was Officer Tom Tinsman, 62, who works in a gang unit on the South Side.

"He was a good cop," said Tinsman, even though he never met Francis personally. "If he wasn't, he wouldn't be dead. He responded to that call, and he responded by himself."

"The citizens, they're the ones who are going to suffer," he added. "They lost a good cop."

Robin Johnson was officially charged last Thursday with the murder of Officer Francis. She was also charged with four counts of attempted murder of a police officer and one count of disarming an officer. [Trib, S-T, CBS2]