Roll of Honor

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Undersheriff

Charles Earl Blackburn

Sutter County Sheriff's Office — Yuba City, CA

Accident

End of Watch December 24, 1955

Age 52

Tour of Duty 14 yrs

The Vigil Panel 91 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 2

Incident

Undersheriff Charles Blackburn and Deputy John Talley drowned when their patrol car was overtaken by water when a levee on the Feather River broke. The two were driving to warn residents of the break when they were killed. Undersheriff Blackburn had served with the agency for 14 years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife, daughter, and son.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-CA-E6A1FCA9
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.
Undersheriff Blackburn gave the Sutter County Sheriff's Office 14 years.
Thank you for your service to the Yuba City community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Undersheriff Blackburn.

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

Agency

Department Sutter County Sheriff's Office

Location Yuba City, CA

Platform Identity scso.sutter.ca.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch December 24, 1955

Tour of Duty 14 yrs

Age 52

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Undersheriff Charles Earl Blackburn 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 CA, 719 of 1,837 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.1% of this state's fallen. That is 8.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

At Sutter County Sheriff's Office, 3 of 3 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 100% of this agency's fallen.

Sutter County Sheriff's Office

of 3 officers

100% Accident

CA — Statewide

719

of 1,837 officers

39.1% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Charles Earl Blackburn'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 Charles Earl Blackburn Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Accident: 38.1 years

Years of Service

This officer

Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Charles Earl Blackburn is highlighted in Dec.

Jan

820

Feb

730

Mar

748

Apr

707

May

847

Jun

795

Jul

897

Aug

937

Sep

913

Oct

925

Nov

872

Dec

897

Others Who Wore This Badge

2 officers from Sutter County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.