Roll of Honor

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Night Chief

James Vallard Smith

Barbourville Police Department — Barbourville, KY

Veteran → Accident

End of Watch October 25, 1967

Age 39

Tour of Duty 12 yrs

The Vigil Panel 103 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Military Department 5

Incident

Night Chief Jim Smith was accidentally shot and killed by another officer while struggling with a drunk driving suspect.

Chief Smith and three other officers in his patrol car had pursued the vehicle to Gillam Hill, where they forced it to stop. When Chief Smith approached the driver, the man punched him in the face. A second officer then struck the driver on the head with the butt of his service revolver, which was then discharged. The round struck Chief Smith in the head, killing him.

The driver of the vehicle was arrested and held on a drunk driving charge.

Chief Smith was a U.S. Navy veteran of WWII.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife, child, five brothers, and five sisters.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-KY-07498EDE
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Also honored at salute.nw — U.S. Navy. One record, 2 gates. James is one person.

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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.
Night Chief Smith gave the Barbourville Police Department 12 years.
Thank you for your service to the Barbourville 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

Department Barbourville Police Department

Type Police Department

Location Barbourville, Knox County, KY

Platform Identity bpd.knox.ky.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch October 25, 1967

Tour of Duty 12 yrs

Age 39

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Military Service

James Vallard Smith served in the U.S. Navy before joining law enforcement.

View full service record on salute.nw →

Night Chief James Vallard Smith is one of 1 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,759 officers honored here.

In KY, 161 of 983 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 16.4% of this state's fallen. That is 16.4 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At Barbourville Police Department, 1 of 6 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 16.7% of this agency's fallen.

Barbourville Police Department

of 6 officers

16.7% Accident

KY — Statewide

161

of 983 officers

16.4% Accident

Nationwide

of 97,759 officers

0% Accident