CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police dedicated a memorial to officers who have taken their own lives Friday.
The memorial at the entrance to FOP headquarters includes the words, “For Those Who Suffered in Silence and Were Lost.”
Families of officers who have taken their lives were present for the dedication ceremony.
"They absolutely were blown away by the memorial, the dedication and having somewhere now to come and even just sit and peace and meditate and contemplate and remember their loved ones and lost ones," said FOP President John Catanzara during his weekly video address to union members.
Catanzara said he was moved by the words of a CPD Chaplain, Rabbi Moshe Wolf, who referred to suicide as "cancer of the heart" during the ceremony.
"It is a great way to analogize that it is literally a disease," he added.
Catanzara urged officers to reach out, talk about what they are going through as it may save their lives. The dedication came at the start of National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.
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