Deputy Rodney Badger

Deputy Rodney Badger

End of Watch: 

April 29, 1853

Age: 30
Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office
Accidental: Drowning


Deputy Rodney Badger, the first Utah police officer to die in the line of duty, drowned during a rescue attempt. 

Deputy Badger was sent to the Weber River to assist immigrant companies fording the river during heavy spring runoff. When a wagon became stranded in the middle of the river, Deputy Badger swam out to it and rescued a woman and four children. During a final trip back to shore with two other children, he was swept away and drowned. His body and those of the two children were discovered 18 months later on a sandbar more than a mile downstream. Survived by his wife and four children, Deputy Badger is buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery. 

The bronze memorial name plaque of Deputy Rodney Badger is sponsored by the Citizens of Salt Lake County.

Fallen Officers