Officer Marco DiFranco Laid To Rest; 198 Chicago Police Officers, Staff Now Reported Positive For COVID-19
CHICAGO (CBS)-- The family of the first Chicago police officer to die from the coronavirus said goodbye to him Thursday morning.
Marco DiFranco was a 21-year veteran of the force and was most recently serving as a narcotics undercover detective.
DiFranco's family held private service in Norridge as he was laid to rest. DiFranco is survived by a wife, two children -- ages 7 and 10 -- and a brother who is also a narcotics officer.
Police officers paid their respects during a procession. No one got out of their vehicles.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Police Department announced Thursday that it now has 198 officers and staff who have reported positive test results for coronavirus.
This includes cases that have been confirmed by the CPD Medical Section, and also cases that are awaiting the verification of the Medical Section.
Of those whose diagnosis has been confirmed by the Medical Section, 144 are sworn officers and seven are civilians.
Interim police Supt. Charlie Beck has said, due to the coronavirus outbreak, as many officers as possible are working alone, but he noted parts of the city have too much violence for it to be safe to run one-officer cars exclusively. However, due to the pandemic, when officers are paired up, they are working with the same partner as often as possible to minimize the chances of spreading of the virus.
Last week, the CPD said it was shifting schedules at Public Safety Headquarters and the Bureau of Internal Affairs in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. A week ago Monday, sworn personnel assigned to headquarters, the Force Review Division, and the Bureau of Internal Affairs began working days, afternoons and midnights to reduce contact. This past Thursday, they also instituted a 4-2 schedule, meaning four days on and two days off.