Police Memorial Includes Radio Call

This year’s annual memorial service for a Downers Grove (Ill.) police officer killed in 1974 included a radio call for the officer…which was met by silence. Off. Richard Barth, then 25 years-old, was shot by a pair of robbers he stopped on the street, the only Downers Grove officer to die in the line of duty. This year’s ceremony was attended by representatives from several police and fire departments, along with Barth’s sister Ruth Stocker and his mother Marie Szabo. A dispatcher called Barth’s name on the radio, and when there was no answer, officers fired a series of rifle salutes. The ceremony coincided with National Police Week.