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Updated: January 12, 2012
Utah Law Enforcement Memorial, Inc.

Total Fallen Officers: 134
Homicide: 75
Accidental: 59

OLDEST OFFICER

Carbon County Sheriff SAMUEL M. BLISS, 70, was accidentally shot to death in 1945 by members of his own posse during a gun battle with a murder suspect. The suspect was also killed.

YOUNGEST OFFICER

Ogden Patrolman ALBERT G. SMALLEY, 20, died in 1920 of injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident the previous year. Officer Smalley was just 19 at the time of the accident.

MOST EXPERIENCED

Provo Officer WILLIAM STRONG served his community for more than 30 years before being shot to death by a transient in 1899.

LEAST EXPERIENCED

Millard County Deputy FLOYD L. ROSE was sworn in an hour before being killed by an escapee from the Millard County jail in 1922.

GENDER AND ETHNICITY

131 males
2 female

126 Caucasian
5 Native-American
1 African-American
1 Latino

In 1998, Navajo Department of Public Safety Officer ESTHER TODECHEENE became the first female police officer to die in the line of duty in Utah. She was killed in a single car accident near Oljeto while responding to another officer’s call for assistance.

In 2010, Millard County Deputy JOSIE GREATHOUSE FOX became the first female officer in Utah to be murdered. She was shot to death during a traffic stop east of Delta.

In 1963, Ogden Detective MARSHALL N. WHITE became the first (currently only) African-American officer to die in the line of duty in Utah, when he succumbed to a gunshot wound suffered several days earlier.

The first (currently only) Latino officer to die in the line of duty in Utah is Sevier County Sgt. FRANCO R. AGUILAR, who died in 2010 after being knocked from a bridge on Interstate 70.

FIRST LINE OF DUTY DEATH

Salt Lake County Deputy Sheriff RODNEY BADGER, drowned in the Weber River in 1853. Deputy Badger was attempting to rescue a family stranded in the river when he was swept to his death by the current.

MOST RECENT DEATH

Jan. 4, 2012 – Ogden P.D. Officer JARED FRANCOM was shot and killed while attempting to serve a warrant on a drug suspect.

WORST EPISODE

In November 1913, a Bingham miner named Rafael Lopez murdered five police officers in the space of a week. He eluded capture, fled Utah, and was reportedly shot and killed by Texas Rangers in 1921.

WORST HISTORICAL PERIOD

With the death of Officer Jared Francom, Utah has entered a new “worst historical period” in line of duty deaths. Previously, the 30 year period spanning 1895-1925 was the most dangerous time for Utah police officers, with 29 percent of all LOD deaths occurring in that period, the majority of which were homicides.

However, in the past 30 years (1982-2012) 29 percent of all Utah officers have fallen during this period as well. Another death this year will make the past 30 years the worst historical period for Utah police officers.

In both periods, 40 officers died. What’s interesting (although somewhat expected) is how the numbers have shifted regarding cause.

1895 – 1925
Homicide: 33      (82%)
Accidental: 7      (18%)

1982 – 2012
Homicide: 15      (38%)
Accidental: 25    (62%)

Of the 25 accidental officer deaths in the latter period, eight officers (32%) were struck and killed by Utah motorists.

However, 10 officers (40%) died as a result of single-car accidents wherein the officer was the primary cause.

DEADLIEST DAYS

January 5
SERGEANT THOMAS W. STROUD (1951)
OFFICER AUGUST L. “LLOYD” LARSEN (1961)
LIEUTENANT JAMES R. MERRILL (1974)
DEPUTY JOSIE GREATHOUSE FOX (2010)
MASTER POLICE OFFICER JARED DANIEL FRANCOM (2012)

August 26
DEPUTY OSCAR FULLMER (1928)
SERGEANT LAUREN E. DOWN (1975)
DEPUTY BLAKE V. WRIGHT (1990)
RANGER MICHAEL A. BEAULIEU (1996)
DEPUTY BRIAN HARRIS (2010)

HOMICIDE

The first Utah officer to die as the result of homicide was Salt Lake City Officer WILLIAM COOKE. He was shot during a jailbreak in SLC, and died two weeks later.

Murder remains the single leading cause of death in the line of duty. 56% of Utah’s fallen police were murdered. Handguns are the greatest threat in these homicides, killing 63% of all murdered officers.

ACCIDENT

44% percent of fallen officers died accidentally. Traffic crashes account for 46% of these accidental deaths. Thirteen police officers have been struck and killed by inattentive or impaired motorists.

MOTORCYCLE

Ogden Officer ALBERT G. SMALLEY was the first Utah officer to die in a traffic accident. Officer Smalley suffered fatal injuries near Ogden Canyon in 1919 after being sideswiped by a passing motorist. Since then, three other officers have died while operating motorcycles, including:

Salt Lake City Officer BLAINE L. BAXTER – 1935

Salt Lake City Officer HAROLD A. PETERSON, SR. – 1954

Utah Highway Patrol Trooper DANIEL W. HARRIS – 1982

The most recent traffic fatality occurred June 7, 2010 when Ute Tribal Officer JOSHUA YAZZIEwas killed in a single-vehicle accident while responding to a call for assistance.

AIRCRAFT

Four Utah police officers have died in aircraft accidents. The first death occurred in 1960, when San Juan County Sheriff SETH F. WRIGHT was returning from Texas with a prisoner. The plane crashed in Colorado, killing all three people aboard. The most recent was the 2006 death of Uintah County Deputy KEVIN S. ORR, who died of injuries when the helicopter he was riding in struck a cable and fell into the Green River during a search and rescue operation.

ERRATA

Father and son. Castle Gate Night Marshal JAMES M. BURNS was murdered in 1925. His death occurred 30 years after the 1894 murder of his father, Sanpete County Sheriff JAMES C. BURNS.

Punishment. Utah’s police killers have historically served light prison sentences. When arrested, convicted, and sentenced to prison, the average overall time served is approximately 11 years.

The last time a murderer of a police officer was executed was in 1955, when Don Jesse Neal was executed by a firing squad for the 1951 murder of Salt Lake Police Detective OWEN T. FARLEY.

Ogden • One lawman is dead and five other police officers and a felony suspect wounded after a firefight erupted during a late-night Wednesday drug raid in Ogden.

Ogden police identified the slain officer as Weber Morgan Narcotics Strike Force Agent Jared Francom, a seven-year law enforcement veteran. He leaves behind a wife and two young children.

Read article here.

DATE: Friday, Oct. 28, 2011
TIME: 12:00 – 5:00 p.m. Press announcement at 1: p.m.
LOCATION: Utah State Archives, 346 S. Rio Grande Street, SLC.

Everyone has heard of Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch. However, few are familiar with the exploits of the dedicated men who pursued them. Little of their personal accounts remain.

Every minute in Utah, bits and pieces of the state’s law enforcement history vanish. Journals, reports, correspondence and photographs are lost through neglect, relegated to attics and basements, or, sadly, find their way into the trash.

On Friday, Oct. 28, the Utah State Archives, Utah State History, and the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial will open the Law Enforcement Historical Collection. An open house will be held between the hours of 12:00 and 5:00 p.m., with the formal announcement to the media at 1 p.m.

Featured at the open house will be interesting items and photographs from the state’s law enforcement past, including old firearms, photographs, badges, equipment, and mug shot books.

Administrators from the following departments will be available for interviews: Salt Lake City, Ogden, Utah Highway Patrol, Unified Police, Department of Corrections, and the Division of Wildlife Resources.

The goal of the Utah Law Enforcement History Collection is to provide a central repository where historical records can be gathered, preserved, and made available for research. A public call will be made to the descendants of police officers, soliciting donations of material currently forgotten or hidden away.

At high noon 128 years ago, the late-summer sun bore down on Salt Lake City Marshal Andrew H. Burt as he went out on what would be his last watch.

On Aug. 25, 1883, Burt’s lunchtime visit with the city water master was cut short by a disturbance call that ended in bloodshed as the officer was gunned down by a man with a rifle.

Read article here.

Steve Maack took hundreds of photos and has shared them with us on his Flickr account. Click here to view them.

Also, Michael Snow has over 200 photos as well that can be seen here and he uploaded a video to share below.

KBER 101 interview with Jessica Orr

Video by Robert Kemp

Video by MyYogiB

NOTE: All rights reserved by their respective owners.

On May 4th, 2006, while visiting Salt Lake’s Temple Square, I noticed a large display of American flags down the green belt in front of the Temple and a ceremonial changing of the guard in progress.   The Utah Law Enforcement Memorial Association was having their annual services that day and each flag represented a Utah law enforcement officer who died while on duty.  The scene made a moving picture with the flags waving in the foreground of the Joseph Smith Building, formerly the Hotel Utah, and the gorgeous flowers in full bloom.  The two officers in the photograph are from the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources.  I made this quilt based on the picture I took that day.

- Josephine de la Cruz Keasler

The picture used as the pattern:

The quilt: