James L. Booth

Bluefield Police Department — Bluefield, WV

Accident

End of Watch August 11, 1911

Tour of Duty 3 yrs

The Vigil Panel 25 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 4

Incident

Patrolman James Booth was killed in an automobile accident when a vehicle he was riding in went over a 30-foot embankment near Stony Ridge. He and three other police officers had been picked up by a local garage owner as they searched for robbery suspects who were reportedly in the area.

As the vehicle drover towards Princeton, at approximately 11:00 pm, one of its tires went off the roadway and caused the vehicle to fall down the embankment. All of the occupants were thrown from the vehicle and seriously injured. Patrolman Booth died from his injuries approximately 30 minutes later.

Patrolman Booth had served with the Bluefield Police Department for three years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and two children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-WV-F70D35E9
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.
Patrolman Booth gave the Bluefield Police Department 3 years.
Thank you for your service to the Bluefield community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrolman Booth.

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

Agency

Department Bluefield Police Department

Location Bluefield, WV

Platform Identity bpd.mercer.wv.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch August 11, 1911

Tour of Duty 3 yrs

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Patrolman James L. Booth 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 WV, 54 of 232 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 23.3% of this state's fallen. That is 7.7 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

At Bluefield Police Department, 2 of 5 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 40% of this agency's fallen.

Bluefield Police Department

of 5 officers

40% Accident

WV — Statewide

of 232 officers

23.3% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident