Burtis Birkhoff

Passaic Police Department — Passaic, NJ

Accident

End of Watch April 15, 1935

Age 36

Tour of Duty 10 yrs

The Vigil Panel 69 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 4

Incident

Patrolman Burtis Birkhoff was killed in an automobile collision while pursuing several men who fled on foot after abandoning a stolen car. He had commandeered a car and was riding on the running board as the driver drove after the men. The driver of the car stopped suddenly to avoid hitting the suspect and Patrolman Birkhoff was thrown to the ground at the intersection of 1st Street and Bergen Street. Patrolman Birkhoff had served with the Passaic Police Department for 10 years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and three young children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-NJ-775AE4A5
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

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Patrolman Birkhoff gave the Passaic Police Department 10 years.
Thank you for your service to the Passaic community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrolman Birkhoff.

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

Agency

Department Passaic Police Department

Location Passaic, NJ

Platform Identity passpd.passaic.nj.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch April 15, 1935

Tour of Duty 10 yrs

Age 36

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Weapon Not available

Offender Not available

Patrolman Burtis Birkhoff 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 NJ, 258 of 646 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.9% of this state's fallen. That is 8.9 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

At Passaic Police Department, 3 of 5 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 60% of this agency's fallen.

Passaic Police Department

of 5 officers

60% Accident

NJ — Statewide

258

of 646 officers

39.9% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident