3 minute read
LAW ENFORCEMENT SPOTLIGHT: ‘SAY HER NAME LEST SHE BE FORGOTTEN’
L.E. SPOTLIGHT
Chicago Officer Ella French gunned down in the line of duty.
STORY BY NICK PERNA • COURTESY PHOTOS
You learn early on in law enforcement not to take anything for granted. Every day at work, officers watch life transition to death in real time, up close and personal. Shootings, stabbings, car crashes, suicides. Violent deaths are the norm when working the streets, a bloody process that plays out over and over again throughout one’s career.
As you observe one bloody scene after another, you realize that you too are on the inevitable path to death. Sadly, for cops, this can come early in their careers, when they have barely had a chance to experience life.
Ambush attacks on police have become all too commonplace in society. Spurred on by the current wave of cop hatred generated by politicians, athletes and celebrities, criminals commit horrendous acts of violence against law enforcement. They are attacked in their patrol cars, while eating in restaurants, even in their homes.
Sometimes, an officer is just doing their job when they are suddenly attacked, like in the case of Ella French. I wouldn’t be too surprised if you haven’t
Chicago Police Department Officer Ella French, 29, served the Windy City for three years.
heard of her. The media chooses to ignore or minimize stories like hers in favor of those involving officers using force against violent criminals.
ELLA FRENCH WAS an officer with the Chicago Police Department. She had been on the job for just a little over three years. Last month, the 29-year-old officer was conducting a traffic stop, along with two other CPD officers. As she approached, a passenger in the vehicle produced a handgun. He fired it at Officer French, striking her in the head and killing her. One of her partners, Officer Carlos Yanez, was severely wounded.
Two brothers, Emonte Morgan, 21, and Eric Morgan, 22, have since been arrested and charged. Both are convicted felons, prohibited from even possessing firearms. The motive is unknown at this time. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, attempted a public relations stunt by showing up at the hospital where French had been taken. When she arrived, CPD officers en masse did an about-face and turned their backs to her, a symbolic response to local politicians turning their back on them time and time again. PR fail.
Chicago is a microcosm of everything that is wrong in America. Liberal politicians defunding and hobbling law enforcement, all the while encouraging criminals to express their feelings through violence towards the police. Unfortunately, in the Windy City, there was no doubt that something like this was going to happen. It was just a question of when. Already the politicos are blaming guns for French’s death. Never mind the Morgan brothers, dark-hearted felons who only understand violence.
There are those who say, “That’s what
they signed up for.” We who wear the badge understand that the job is risky and every day that you get to go home is a good day. That being said, the tacit consent from politicians and others that allows these types of horrific violent acts is not what we signed up for.
The number of officers who have been killed in ambushes in recent years is astronomical. You’ll have to dig deep to find their names, though; for the most part, they have been forgotten, except by their families, friends and fellow cops.
In Native American culture, it is believed that a soul exists as long as people remember them. So say her name, Ella French, lest she be forgotten.
Editor’s note: Author Nick Perna is a sergeant with the Redwood City Police Department in northern California. He previously served as a paratrooper in the US Army and is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He also has a master’s degree from the University of San Francisco. He is a frequent contributor to multiple print and online forums on topics related to law enforcement, firearms, tactics and veterans issues.
