Roll of Honor
Incident
Patrolman Bartholomew Cavanaugh died after falling down a staircase in an areaway behind a building at the corner of 22nd Street (current day Cernak Road) and Indiana Avenue in Chicago.
He was investigating a possible burglary when he fell and broke his neck. He was found a short time later by two other police officers but died before he could be taken to a hospital.
Patrolman Cavanaugh had served with the Chicago Police Department for 10 years and was assigned to the Cottage Grove Avenue Station.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and four children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-IL-D2ACFE10- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
128 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Patrolman Cavanaugh gave the Chicago Police Department 10 years.
Thank you for your service to the Chicago community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Patrolman Bartholomew Cavanaugh is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In IL, 354 of 1,318 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 26.9% of this state's fallen. That is 4.1 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Chicago Police Department, 107 of 571 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 18.7% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Bartholomew Cavanaugh's cause is highlighted.
How Bartholomew Cavanaugh Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Bartholomew Cavanaugh is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
570 officers from Chicago Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
