In an undated photo posted to Twitter, Chicago police officer Ella French is armed with everything protecting her on Saturday night.
He is wearing a safety vest. There is a police radio attached to his uniform so that he can call for backup. He has his gun tied around his waist.
Most importantly, Officer French is wearing the insignia of the Chicago Police Department on his left sleeve, and that should have been enough. In a better world - a better city - this should have been the only armor he needed. He should have kept it safe.
It did not.
Officer French was shot and killed around 9 p.m. in the South Side's West Englewood neighborhood. During an apparently regular traffic stop on Saturday. Another officer was also shot. He is fighting for his life, as we write this, in a hospital intensive care unit.
This city should be ashamed of itself.
Every weekend, Chicago shoots itself. More than 60 people were shot last weekend. And now the city cannot even claim the protection of police officers thrown on the streets for pushing back against the violence. So far this year, Superintendent of Police David Brown said 38 officers were shot on Sunday and 11 were gunned down.
Let's understand:
When the police are not respected, when their uniforms and badges are no longer in possession, no one is safe. We either stand as a city with the police, even though we support police reforms, or we sink as a city without police.
We will learn more about Officer French in the coming days.
She was only 29 years old.
We'll also learn more about the traffic stop near 63rd Street and Bell Avenue, which culminated in the death of Officer French and the serious injury of another officer. Body cam video. We urge the city to release the video legally as soon as possible.
Who were the three people in the car, now arrested, what in the hell were they doing? What happened after all?
And perhaps the most pressing question of all is this: What would our criminal justice system have done to keep us safe from the people in that car before this bloody night?
Chicago's flags are half-dead again. And men and women in blue, standing at attention and saluting, will line the streets again during funeral hearings.
Will all of us, in every neighborhood, stand with him personally and in spirit?
We had better.
On Sunday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot was asked whether the increase in the shootings of police officers could, in some way and indirectly, be related to Chicago's continued efforts at police reform. There has been so much criticism of the department, and so much defensive backlash.
To which Lightfoot quite correctly replied: “Wait. just stop it."
Yes, the mayor said, Chicago must "continue to march" for a "constitutional, accountable police," but "the police are not our enemies." On the contrary, they risk their lives for us "every day".