Roll of Honor
Incident
Chief of Police Franklin Dent was struck and killed by a vehicle while directing traffic at the intersection of Berwick Road and Locust Street.
Upon seeing a speeding car Chief Dent blew his whistle and stepped into the roadway to stop it. The driver of the vehicle instead increased its speed and turned off its lights.
In an attempt to avoid being struck, Chief Dent stepped backward into the path of an oncoming vehicle. He was transported to Bloomsburg Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. The driver of the vehicle he attempted to stop was never identified.
Chief Dent was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of the Spanish-American War and had served with the Bloomsburg Police Department for only eight months.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and four children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-EC258EF3- 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 served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Chief of Police Dent served with the Bloomsburg Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Bloomsburg community. Thank you for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Franklin Arthur Dent served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.
Chief of Police Franklin Arthur Dent 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 PA, 417 of 1,261 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.1% of this state's fallen. That is 2.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Franklin Arthur Dent's cause is highlighted.
How Franklin Arthur Dent Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Franklin Arthur Dent is highlighted in Aug.