Chicagoist's "Top 10 of 2010:" #5 - Cops Being Murdered

By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 28, 2010 8:40PM

Police take their oath "to serve and protect" to heart. But it still comes as a shock when we read news of a policeman killed, whether in the line of duty or not. We were shocked a lot in 2010.

Even though senior Police Department officials said that the killings this year weren't signs of a trend, it was an indicator that gun-toting criminals were feeling, at the very least, emboldened to take a shot at a cop, even when the entire might of the Police Department is brought upon them afterward to bring them to justice. Or maybe it was the convergence of these killings coming so closely to each other that makes them stand out more this year. Regardless, it resonated with us.

Here is the list of Chicago cops killed in 2010:

• Thomas Wortham IV
• Thor Soderberg
• Michael R. Bailey
• David A. Blake
• Michael Flisk and former CHA police officer Stephen Peters.

We also need to remember Sgt. Alan Haymaker, who was the first police officer killed in the line of duty in 2010 when his car slammed into a tree while he was responding to a burglary.