Wednesday, star belonging to Chicago Police Officer Flisk was retired. Officer Flisk spent 19 years working in the Chicago Police Department.
"No doubt he was aware of the dangers, but he always overcame them and did his job honorably," said the Fraternal Order of Police's Michael K. Shields.
Wednesday, with his relatives and extended police family on hand, the star Flisk wore proudly joined 480 others.
"While we're retiring his badge in our hearts and in our soul, he will never be retired. He will always be part of the family of the City of Chicago," said Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
"We will never forget the sacrifice that marks Michael's life and his career," said Chicago Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy.
It was the day after Thanksgiving last year when Flisk, an evidence technician, was shot and killed while processing a crime scene. The burglary victim he was helping, 44-year-old Stephen Peters, was also killed.
The shootings, in broad daylight, stunned fellow officers.
"To the family of Michael Flisk, we cannot bear as you do the utterly devastating impact of his loss. But we feel it. We feel it all the time," said Shields.
"He always wanted to do the right thing by people, and he always had a smile to offer for people, and he always had that glisten in his eye, that you knew you had a friend with you," said Chicago Police Department Commander Joseph Murphy.
The 46-year-old husband and father of four came from a family of police officers.
He was a skilled technician, colleagues say, with a knack for lifting fingerprints that others might have missed.
"Mike, among his peers, he was called 'Dusty,' because he was so white after processing the scene," said Murphy.
Flisk's family offered no words, choosing to let his sacrifice speak for itself.
"His passing will only increase our legendary toughness and resolve," said Shields. "We will soldier on in our quest for a peaceful city."
Flisk's alleged killer, Timothy Herring Jr., has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors allege he committed the murders to cover his tracks for an earlier theft. But Wednesday, colleagues say, was not about Herring. It was about remembering a man who made a real difference during his lifetime.
