Douglas Lee Dodson
Agency patch
Dispatcher

Douglas Lee Dodson

Harlingen Police Department — Harlingen, TX
Accident
End of Watch October 2, 1974
Age 20
Tour of Duty 3 mo
The Vigil Panel 114 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Dispatcher Douglas Dodson was killed in a helicopter crash shortly after takeoff.

He was acting as observer for Patrolman Humberto Avila of the Mission Police Department. Patrolman Avila was also killed in the crash that occurred at Harlingen Airport.

It was later determined that the cause of the crash was due to the use of the wrong type of bolts.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-TX-6C72A509
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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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Dispatcher Dodson served with the Harlingen Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Harlingen community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Dispatcher Dodson.

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

Agency

Type Police Department
Location Harlingen, Cameron County, TX
Platform Identity hpd.cameron.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch October 2, 1974
Tour of Duty 3 mo
Age 20
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Dispatcher Douglas Lee Dodson 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 TX, 657 of 2,422 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27.1% of this state's fallen. That is 27.1 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

Harlingen Police Department
1
of 1 officers
100% Accident
TX — Statewide
657
of 2,422 officers
27.1% Accident
Nationwide
1
of 97,772 officers
0% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Douglas Lee Dodson's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
1 (0%)
Accident
1 (0%)
Illness
1 (0%)
Cardiac
1 (0%)
Undetermined
1 (0%)
Suicide
1 (0%)

How Douglas Lee Dodson Compares

Age at Death
20
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
0.2
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Douglas Lee Dodson is highlighted in Oct.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
708
May
848
Jun
797
Jul
899
Aug
938
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897

Incident Location

Others Who Wore This Badge

0 officers from Harlingen Police Department are honored on badge.nw.