Roll of Honor
Incident
Chief of Police John Rowland died as the result of strychnine poisoning. A suspect placed the strychnine into Chief Rowland's drink. He died within 30 minutes of being exposed to it. The subject who placed the strychnine in the drink was charged with murder, but was not indicted by the grand jury.
Survivors
Chief Rowland was survived by his brother and sister.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-AL-D71F3B5B- 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.
Chief of Police Rowland served with the Jacksonville Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Jacksonville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Rowland.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Chief of Police John T. Rowland 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 AL, 182 of 643 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 28.3% of this state's fallen. That is 2.7 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Jacksonville Police Dept., 3 of 6 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John T. Rowland's cause is highlighted.
How John T. Rowland Compares
Offender Outcome
Not available
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John T. Rowland is highlighted in Aug.
Others Who Wore This Badge
5 officers from Jacksonville Police Dept. are honored on badge.nw.
