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Frederick Joseph Gibney
Agency patch
Patrolman

Frederick Joseph Gibney

Boston Police Department — Roxbury Crossing, MA
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic → Illness
United States flag Massachusetts flag
End of Watch October 30, 1918
Age 29
Tour of Duty 10 mo
The Vigil Panel 81 · Column 3 · Line 7 ›
Gender Male
Incident Media Service The Sacrifice Memorials 1 Also Remembered Department 105

Incident

Patrolman Frederick Gibney died as a result of complications of Spanish Influenza after contracting the flu two weeks earlier while performing his duties.

He was assigned to transport prisoners to the city jail. Some of these prisoners had the influenza virus and were transported to the hospital.

The first case of Spanish Influenza was reported in Boston on August 28, 1918, resulting in more than 4,000 deaths by the end of 1918. Boston Police Officers performed many tasks to help stop the spread of the flu while working an average of 73-98 hours weekly.

Patrolman Gibney served with the Boston Police Department for ten months and was assigned to District 17.

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

Patrolman Frederick Joseph Gibney died on October 30, 1918 of influenza contracted in the line of duty. He was 29.

He is one of 201 officers honored here, and one of 14 at Boston 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

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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.
Patrolman Gibney served with the Boston Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Roxbury Crossing community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrolman Gibney.

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

Agency

Department Boston Police Department
Type Police Department
Location Roxbury Crossing, Suffolk County, MA
Platform Identity bpd.suffolk.ma.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch October 30, 1918
Tour of Duty 10 mo
Age 29
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness
Cause Detail Influenza Pandemic

The Sacrifice · Illness

Frederick is one of 2,028 officers lost to illness in the United States, 7.4% of the 27,552 remembered there.

34,103 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

  3. See the roll
  4. See the roll
Compare against
I

Time

In 1918, 226 officers in the United States were lost to illness, the 3rd heaviest of 108 years on record. The heaviest was 2021, with 564.

Every year on record · United States
II

Who

Frederick was 29. Of the 1,996 lost to illness in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 42 and 58; the middle age was 51. Frederick had served 0.8 years; the middle length of service was 20 years.

Age at death
Where he stood among them
Age by years of service
III

When

October holds 14.9% of these deaths in the United States, more than any other month. Wednesdays: 14%.

By month
By day of the week
IV

How

Illness deaths account for 7.4% of all 27,552 deaths in the United States, the 3rd most common cause.

Every cause
Weapons recorded
V

His people

Boston Police Department has 106 officers remembered here, Frederick among them.

Across the years
VI

Where

Patrolman Frederick Joseph Gibney

Boston Police Department · End of Watch October 30, 1918

Where the Name Is Cut

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial · Panel 10-W

Also Remembered

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial — requiem.nw →

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