Chambana Sun

Fallen Champaign officer Chris Oberheim was honored in a May 19 procession that spanned several counties, including his hometown of Monticello.

Law enforcement agencies and other first responders came together to escort Oberheim from Champaign-Urbana to Decatur and beyond. Schools were released early that day in Monticello to make it easier for the procession to travel through town.

Oberheim was killed earlier in the week during a shootout with a domestic violence suspect where his partner was also injured, and the suspect was killed.  

The procession salute came just days after Illinois police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty over the last two years were feted at the Illinois Police Memorial on May 6.

Under the presence of an honor guard, the 2020 names were read and engraved on the memorial on April 25, a ceremony that has been happening each year since the memorial was built in 1985. A public ceremony was then held on May 6 to commemorate Illinois' fallen officers from 2019 and 2020 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

“This is a way for us to memorialize their sacrifices for all of us and to make sure we continue to remember their legacy and remember the fact that we need to defend our police officers every day because they’re out there defending us,” Republican state Sen. Dan McConchie said in a video posted to YouTube. “It’s really important for us to honor our fallen police officers who put themselves on the line every day.”

On the same day as the memorial, state Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) took to the Housefloor to echo the list of the fallen 16 officers, correctional officers and deputies and call for a moment of silence in their honor.

"These men and women were enshrined today on the Illinois State Police Officers' Memorial," Caulkins said. "I ask for a moment of silence to recognize their sacrifice and protecting all of us."

The ceremony to pay tribute to the fallen members of law enforcement occurs every year on the first Thursday of May.