Roll of Honor
Incident
Captain Jerome Poelking died after contracting an illness as a result of being spat upon.
He and other officers had responded to a robbery call at 11802 Kinsman Road and, when they arrived, discovered the suspects holding 15 hostages in the basement. As Captain Poelking negotiated with the suspects, one of them spat on his face.
When Captain Poelking awoke the following day, he had a temperature of 104º and had difficulty breathing. He was taken to a local hospital and died three days later from meningococcal meningitis, an inflammation of his brain and spinal cord.
Captain Poelking had served with the Cleveland Police Department for 30 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and four children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-OH-91DB2911- 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
30 years. You could have gone home.
Captain Poelking gave the Cleveland Division of Police 30 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Cleveland community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Captain Poelking.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Captain Jerome C. Poelking 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 OH, 49 of 991 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 4.9% of this state's fallen. That is 4.2 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.
At Cleveland Division of Police, 9 of 119 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 7.6% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Jerome C. Poelking's cause is highlighted.
How Jerome C. Poelking Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Jerome C. Poelking is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
118 officers from Cleveland Division of Police are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
