Arthur L. Weston
Agency patch
Chief of Police

Arthur L. Weston

Rockton Police Department — Rockton, IL
Cardiac
End of Watch October 27, 1977
Age 52
Tour of Duty 32 yrs
The Vigil Panel 119 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Chief of Police Arthur Weston suffered a fatal heart attack following a struggle with a suspect at approximately 10:00 am.

Chief Weston had responded to a burglary-in-progress call and located the suspect in an upstairs bedroom. After an intense struggle Chief Weston was able to place the suspect into custody. As he was transporting the man to jail he began to have chest pains and called for backup. He was taken to a local hospital where he died approximately one hour later.

The suspect was found unfit to stand trial and later escaped from a mental hospital.

Chief of Police Weston had served with the Rockton Police Department for six years and had been in law enforcement for 32 years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife, son and four daughters.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-IL-2FDFB275
Stewardship
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Added to badge.nw
April 2, 2026
Last updated
July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

32 years. You could have gone home.
Chief of Police Weston gave the Rockton Police Department 32 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Rockton community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Weston.

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

Agency

Location Rockton, IL
Platform Identity rocktonpd.winnebago.il.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch October 27, 1977
Tour of Duty 32 yrs
Age 52
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Cardiac

Chief of Police Arthur L. Weston is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In IL, 45 of 1,318 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 3.4% of this state's fallen. That is 0.6 percentage points below the national rate of 4%.

Rockton Police Department
1
of 1 officers
100% Cardiac
IL — Statewide
45
of 1,318 officers
3.4% Cardiac
Nationwide
1,306
of 32,508 officers
4% Cardiac

National Cause Distribution

How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Arthur L. Weston's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How Arthur L. Weston Compares

Age at End of Watch
52
This officer
Avg for Cardiac: 48.6 years
Years of Service
32
This officer
Avg for Cardiac: 15.6 years

When Cardiac Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Arthur L. Weston is highlighted in Oct.

Jan
124
Feb
105
Mar
99
Apr
116
May
115
Jun
95
Jul
94
Aug
104
Sep
109
Oct
121
Nov
113
Dec
111