James O'Brien

Temple Police Department — Temple, TX

Accident Veteran

End of Watch November 21, 2003

Age 38

Tour of Duty 7 yrs

The Vigil Panel 151 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 3

Incident

Officer James O'Brien was killed in a motorcycle crash on North 31st Street at 4:00 p.m. while en route to provide a police escort.

His motorcycle struck the back of a vehicle that was stopped in the left lane attempting to make a left-hand turn. Officer O'Brien was transported to Scott and White Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Officer O'Brien was a U.S. Marine Corps Reserve veteran and had served with the Temple Police Department for 7 years.

Survivors

He is survived by his son and daughter.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-TX-DB6E6FC5
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.
Police Officer O'Brien gave the Temple Police Department 7 years.
Thank you for your service to the Temple community, and for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.

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

Agency

Department Temple Police Department

Location Temple, TX

Platform Identity tpd.bell.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch November 21, 2003

Tour of Duty 7 yrs

Age 38

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Military Service

James O'Brien served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.

Police Officer James O'Brien 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 TX, 653 of 2,421 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27% of this state's fallen. That is 4 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

At Temple Police Department, 2 of 4 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.

Temple Police Department

of 4 officers

50% Accident

TX — Statewide

653

of 2,421 officers

27% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident