ROCKFORD Residents are on edge ahead of a verdict in the Derek Chauvin murder trial, and local police say they have contingency plans in place in case of unrest.
Rockford activist Jay Ware said he is scared of how people might react if Chauvin is found not guilty and what it would say about justice in the United States. I am very apprehensive, Ware said. I think there is probably a 50-50 chance that justice is going to happen. I think the guy is guilty, but I just don’t have very much faith in the system.
Ware and other activists said a not guilty verdict in the face of what they view as overwhelming evidence against Chauvin the Minneapolis police officer who was accused of murder after he knelt on a handcuffed George Floyd s neck for more than 9 minutes as he died would signal that there is no justice in America.
ROCKFORD Rockford Police Chief Dan O Shea is ready to hang up his gun and badge after a more than three-decade career in law enforcement marked by triumph and tragedy.
What he will do next is uncertain. But O Shea, 53, knows this much: He will work in the private sector for a time and it will have nothing to do with police work. After 32 years of policing, I will not do law enforcement anymore, O Shea said. I am done. I am tired.
O Shea plans to retire from law enforcement April 30 after a career that spanned five years as chief of the Rockford Police Department, 17 years in Elgin and nine years in Addison.
One of the things that makes me proud to be a Rockfordian is the constant support the majority of this community shows for first responders. We respect the sacrifices they make each and every day for their job, but sadly it takes a tragedy for us to really understand just how much danger they face.
When the news broke about the shooting at Don Carter Lanes back in December, our hearts broke. We mourned for the victims and their families, for the survivors forced to move past the terror they just experienced, and for the Don Carter staff and owners that had to overcome yet another huge hurdle during a horrible year.
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