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Chicago Police Academy Training Lab Named After Fallen Officer

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago police have honored one of their fallen colleagues in a most appropriate way.

WBBM Newsradio's Nancy Harty reports the Chicago Police Academy training lab, where recruits learn how to administer Breathalyzer tests, has been named after Officer Michael P. Gordon, who died when his squad car was hit by a drunk driver in August 2004.

Gordon's father, a retired cop who spent 30 years on the force in Riverside, said his son also served in the Army, in Bosnia and Korea, only to be killed by a drunk driver while on patrol in Chicago.

"He did see action in both countries – riots in Korea – and then comes back here, like I said, and loses his life to a drunk driver," he said.

Former Police Supt. Phil Cline, who now runs the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, spoke at the dedication ceremony, reiterating a message he delivered at Gordon's funeral nine years ago.

"If I were to build a police officer from all the traits I feel important to this job, I would build Mike Gordon," he said.

Gordon started his career as a police officer in Riverside, along with his father, receiving numerous commendations in two years before transferring to the Chicago Police Department, where he volunteered to serve in the Harrison District, considered one of the worst in the city in terms of violent crime.

Before that, he was a military police officer in the Army, attached to the 82nd Airborne, and served for five years.

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