NORWOOD PARK — A measure that rename the United States Post Office in Norwood Park for slain Chicago Police Officer Joseph Cali moved one step closer to becoming law Tuesday with the approval of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The bill must also be approved by the U.S. Senate and signed by President Barack Obama before the post office at 6300 N. Northwest Highway gets renamed.
“Officer Cali made the ultimate sacrifice, and while I wish we could do more, I am hopeful that this post office can stand in Officer Cali’s name and memorialize the dedication and sacrifice he made for the City of Chicago,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-5th, who authored the measure.
Cali, 31, an Edison Park resident, died in May 1975 after being shot in his head by a sniper. A veteran of the Vietnam War, Cali had been a police officer for two years.
In his remarks on the floor of the House, Quigley called Cali "a hero."
Cali, who was married and had two young daughters at the time of his death, was shot in his head with a rifle while writing a ticket outside the Henry Horner Homes, a public housing project on the West Side.
James Clark, then 17, was convicted of Cali's murder. He was paroled in 1986, records show.
Neva Cali, the officer's widow, said she hopes the bill becomes law — and boosts the morale of Chicago officers, which police union leaders have said is at an all-time low in the wake of the release of a dashcam video showing a police officer fatally shoot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times.
Renaming the post office also will show families of officers who are killed in the line of duty that the promises of never forgetting that echo after every death are honored, no matter how much time has passed, said Carolyn Cali-Brick, who was almost 2 years old when her father was killed.
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