Six Chicago officers honored for exceptional service, named June Officers of the Month

CHICAGO - Six officers were honored Thursday for their work to keep the community safe.

The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation named its June Officers of the Month. 

One group of four officers were working a funeral in May where suspected gang members were expected to show up. 

They said the officers stopped a car nearby for a traffic violation and discovered nine occupants and eight illegal guns that they got off the street.

Officer Eric Meyers, RIchardo Hinojosa, Monty Owens and Fernando Valencia, who couldn't be there, were given awards. 

The other two are detectives who received awards. They were assigned to the case of a 10-year-old boy who was shot in August 2016. Once he recovered, he and his mom became family.

Detectives kept in touch and went above and beyond for now high school graduate Tavon Tanner. 

"Over the years, the detectives bought kid stuff to Tavon – baseballs, mitts, and the like, and in 2020, they started a fundraising campaign to cover tuition for Tavon at St. Patrick High School. Donors and school administration stepped up in a big way. The detectives took turns at times to make sure Tavon got to school," said Phil Cline, with the foundation.

Tavon recently graduated from St. Patrick High School and was present at the award ceremony.