Dale Edson Barkley

Columbia Police Department — Columbia, SC

Veteran → Accident

End of Watch January 27, 1981

Age 33

Tour of Duty 10 yrs

The Vigil Panel 123 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Military Department 10

Incident

Police Officer Dale Barkley was killed in a motorcycle crash at the intersection of Gervais Street and Assembly Street while escorting a funeral procession. His motorcycle was struck by a car as he entered an intersection in which another officer had already blocked traffic. Officer Barkley was thrown from his motorcycle and landed underneath a nearby parked car. Several bystanders immediately went to his aid and lifted the parked car enough for him to be pulled from underneath it. He was transported to Richland Memorial Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries two days later. Officer Barkley had served with the Columbia Police Department for 10 years.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife and son.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-SC-79AD4C0A
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Also honored at salute.nw — U.S. Marine Corps. One record, 2 gates. Dale is one person.

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Tributes

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

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

Agency

Department Columbia Police Department

Type Other

Location Columbia, SC

Platform Identity cpd.richland.sc.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch January 27, 1981

Tour of Duty 10 yrs

Age 33

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Military Service

Dale Edson Barkley served in the U.S. Marine Corps (1966â1970) before joining law enforcement.

View full service record on salute.nw →

Police Officer Dale Edson Barkley is one of 1 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.

In SC, 138 of 441 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.3% of this state's fallen. That is 31.3 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At Columbia Police Department, 3 of 11 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27.3% of this agency's fallen.

Columbia Police Department

of 11 officers

27.3% Accident

SC — Statewide

138

of 441 officers

31.3% Accident

Nationwide

of 97,772 officers

0% Accident