At 9 p.m. Thursday -- one week to the hour after a gunman opened fire on police officers providing security for a Black Lives Matter march in Dallas, Tex. -- the Rockford Police and Fire Chaplains Division began a 15-hour vigil to honor the slain officers and to recognize the police who protect the Forest City as well.
Guests began arriving nearly half an hour earlier, pausing to speak to police officers and Rockford Police Chief Dan O'Shea before signing a remembrance book that will be sent on to the Dallas Police Department after the vigil ends at noon today.
After a brief welcome from Rev. Calvin Culpepper, pastor of the host church, Chaplain Lou Ness spoke of the grief she and others felt when she heard the news last Thursday night that police officers had been killed while protecting a protest march in Dallas.
"Tonight is for remembering," she said. "Nothing anybody can say to me will make this OK."
Ness read the names of the slain Dallas officers, noting that naming people lifts them up and places them in the care of "the Holy One."
She stepped aside and Rockford Ald. Frank Beach began reading the roster of sworn officers on the Rockford Police Department. After calling out dozens of names, he yielded to Rockford Street Chaplain Curly Thomas, who continued.
That process will be continued throughut the 15 hours of the vigil, Ness said.
The vigil is being held in the chapel of the church complex just a couple of blocks north of the current Rockford Police headquarters in downtown Rockford. The entrance is on Court Street, just south of Jefferson Street.