Albert C. Wedge

Los Angeles Police Department — Los Angeles, CA

Illness

End of Watch February 5, 1919

Age 39

The Vigil Panel 36 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 239

Incident

Sergeant Albert Wedge died as a result of complications from influenza while performing his assigned duties during the Influenza Pandemic.

Effects of the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic on Law Enforcement

Also known as "Spanish Flu" or "LaGrippe," the Influenza Pandemic of 1918 to early 1919 infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide—about one-third of the planet’s population—and killed approximately 675,000 Americans. The effect of the influenza epidemic in the United States was so dire that the average life span in the U.S. fell by twelve years. The four waves of the flu began in March 1918 and ended in April 1919. Many officers contracted this virus due to the requirements of their job.

The names of every officer who died in the line of duty from the Influenza Pandemic will likely never be known. Still, ODMP researchers continue to uncover new cases as part of our mission never to forget the fallen.

Please click here to view ODMP's Influenza Memorial, listing all known fallen officers from the pandemic.

The 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Sergeant Albert C. Wedge died on February 5, 1919 of influenza contracted in the line of duty. He was 39.

He is one of 201 officers honored here, and one of 10 at Los Angeles Police Department.

The influenza pandemic of 1918 killed more people worldwide than the war that preceded it. Police officers worked it without vaccines, without antibiotics, and often without masks, enforcing quarantines, transporting the sick, and standing posts in cities where the dead outpaced the undertakers.

They caught it doing the job. There was no treatment to give them.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-CA-373CB3B0
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: September 9, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

No vaccine, no antibiotics, and you stood the post anyway.
Sergeant Wedge served with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Los Angeles community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Wedge.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Los Angeles Police Department

Type Police Department

Location Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA

Platform Identity lapd.losangeles.ca.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch February 5, 1919

Age 39

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness

Cause Detail Influenza Pandemic

Sergeant Albert C. Wedge is one of 1 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,787 officers honored here.

In CA, 75 of 1,837 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 4.1% of this state's fallen. That is 4.1 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At Los Angeles Police Department, 22 of 240 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 9.2% of this agency's fallen.

Los Angeles Police Department

of 240 officers

9.2% Illness

CA — Statewide

of 1,837 officers

4.1% Illness

Nationwide

of 97,787 officers

0% Illness