Roll of Honor
Incident
Detective Sergeant James Gallagher became ill with Spanish Influenza while transporting a prisoner from Carlsbad, New Mexico.
He had gone to Carlsbad, New Mexico, to pick up a prisoner who was charged with complicity in the murder of a man the previous December. Detective Sergeant Gallagher turned custody of the prisoner over to two uniformed officers at the Ferry Building immediately upon his return to San Francisco. He returned home and died of complications of Spanish Influenza one week later. The prisoner gave a full affidavit to the San Francisco Police Department shortly after arriving at the prison simply for police records.
The affidavit stated "On the train ride back to San Francisco Detective Sergeant Gallagher became very ill near Barstow, California, and his prisoner got a hotel room for the both of them in town so Detective Sergeant Gallagher could get rest. His prisoner stated he then left the hotel room to get a shave at a local barber shop around the corner. After his shave, he returned to check on Detective Sergeant Gallagher and saw he was getting a fever and treated Detective Sergeant Gallagher with a cold towel on his neck and chest. The prisoner also stated that Detective Sergeant Gallagher was a restless sleeper the whole night and he could not have gotten no more than two hours of sleep. The prisoner then left in the middle of the night to grab milk at a local diner, to grab medicine, and to send a telegram to Detective Sergeant Gallagher's wife about his condition."
Detective Sergeant Gallagher had served with the San Francisco Police Department for 18 years.
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic
Detective Sergeant James Gallagher died on February 3, 1920 of influenza contracted in the line of duty. He was 48.
He is one of 201 officers honored here.
The influenza pandemic of 1918 killed more people worldwide than the war that preceded it. Police officers worked it without vaccines, without antibiotics, and often without masks, enforcing quarantines, transporting the sick, and standing posts in cities where the dead outpaced the undertakers.
They caught it doing the job. There was no treatment to give them.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-AD5914F4- 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
No vaccine, no antibiotics, and you stood the post anyway.
Detective Sergeant Gallagher gave the San Francisco Police Department 18 years.
Thank you for your service to the San Francisco community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Detective Sergeant Gallagher.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Detective Sergeant James Gallagher 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 CA, 75 of 1,837 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 4.1% of this state's fallen. That is 5 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.
At San Francisco Police Department, 2 of 106 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 1.9% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. James Gallagher's cause is highlighted.
How James Gallagher Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. James Gallagher is highlighted in Feb.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
105 officers from San Francisco Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
