Funeral-Goers Question Absence of Cops

13-year-old allegedly killed by drunken officer

Trenton Booker was laid to rest today.  Over 200 people attended his funeral, but by all appearances, none of them were police officers.

Booker is the 13-year-old boy who was struck and killed in a hit-and-run crash that's being blamed on an off-duty Chicago police officer,  Richard Bolling.

The boy had been out riding his bike in the early-morning hours of May 22. -- his family says he slipped out of the house after they thought he was in bed for the night.

While questions linger about why the boy was out at that hour, and whether the police officer received preferencial treatment in having not been given a Breathalyzer test until four hours after the crash, the question on the minds of many funeral participants Monday was, where are the Chicago police now?

"I think someone should have been here fro the Police Department to show their condolence, but they're so busy trying to cover up for what (Bolling) did," the Tribune quoted 63-year-old Melvin Bowers as saying.

Others reiterated Bowers' sentiment. The Chicago Police Department had no immediate comment.

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