Roll of Honor
Incident
Deputy Sheriff Doug Sanford died from complications as a result of contracting COVID-19 in the line of duty.
Deputy Sanford was assigned as the Animal Control Supervisor with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office for nine years and previously served with the Carmel Police Department for two years, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department in Indiana for three years, and the Ionia County Sheriff's Office in Michigan for seven years.
COVID-19 and Law Enforcement
Deputy Sheriff Douglas Warren Sanford died on March 29, 2022 of COVID-19 contracted in the line of duty. He was 48.
He is one of 884 officers honored here.
Beginning in early 2020, law enforcement officers across the country contracted COVID-19 in the course of their duties. While much of the nation sheltered at home, they kept answering calls, making arrests, transporting prisoners, and working face to face with the public. There was no distance to be had from the job.
Corrections officers were hit hardest. Confined facilities and large populations meant constant, close, unavoidable exposure.
Survivors
Survivors include his wife, son, and daughter.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-IN-46AD0504- 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
The country locked its doors. You kept working.
Deputy Sheriff Sanford gave the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office 18 years.
Thank you for your service to the Noblesville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Sanford.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Deputy Sheriff Douglas Warren Sanford is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In IN, 13 of 503 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 2.6% of this state's fallen. That is 6.5 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Douglas Warren Sanford's cause is highlighted.
How Douglas Warren Sanford Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Douglas Warren Sanford is highlighted in Mar.