By Glenn Jeffers, Chicago Tribune (Illinois)
Chicago Police Supt. Philip Cline on Wednesday accepted a $6,500 memorial grant for the family of Officer Michael Gordon.
Gordon, 30, a promising young officer working overnight in the Harrison District, diedAug. 8 when his squad car was rammed by a drunken driver Sacramento and Jackson Boulevards.
Cline traveled to Washington to receive the grant, being awarded by the Taser Foundation, according to organizers and police spokesman David Bayless.
Gordon is one of five officers being honored at the Taser Foundation’s launch ceremony. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based non-profit organization is part of Taser International Inc., a manufacturer of non-lethal stun guns for law-enforcement agencies.
The foundation, created with an initial endowment of $1 million from the company and employee donations, will award another 20 to 30 grants by the end of the year, said its executive director, Geraldine Anderson. The foundation will consider awarding a grant in honor of any officer who died in the line of duty after Aug. 1.
“Taser established the foundation as a way to give back to the law-enforcement community,” Anderson said.
Anderson said she understands the need for this organization. Her younger brother, Officer Adam Hills of the Rochester (Mich.) Police Department, was killed in 1994 while off-duty, she said.
Hills, 27, left behind a wife and two children who could have used the kind of support the foundation will provide, Anderson said.
Robert Gordon Jr., the Chicago officer’s father, said he appreciated the recognition of his son’s service.
“It’s nice that someone hasn’t forgotten him,” he said.
Since Gordon’s death, the retired assistant Riverside police chief and his family have been working on starting a foundation in his son’s honor.
The foundation will provide scholarships to law-enforcement students, financial assistance to police cadets, and support to the families of fallen officers, Robert Gordon said.