Joseph Allen Purvis
Agency patch
Federal Prohibition Agent

Joseph Allen Purvis

Veteran → Accident
End of Watch March 30, 1928
Age 65
Tour of Duty 8 yrs
The Vigil Panel 55 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Federal Prohibition Agent Joseph Purvis was killed in an automobile accident while on duty in Seattle, Washington.

Agent Purvis had served in law enforcement for at least eight years. He had previously served as a special agent for a railroad and was a United States Coast Guard veteran.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-FED-F0113F35
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. Coast Guard. One record, 2 gates. Joseph 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.
Federal Prohibition Agent Purvis gave the United States Department of the Treasury 8 years.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.

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

Agency

Type Federal Agency
Location Washington, DC
Platform Identity usdtirsbpfed.fed.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch March 30, 1928
Tour of Duty 8 yrs
Age 65
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Military Service

Joseph Allen Purvis served in the U.S. Coast Guard before joining law enforcement.

View full service record on salute.nw →

Federal Prohibition Agent Joseph Allen Purvis 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 DC, 454 of 1,419 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 32% of this state's fallen. That is 32 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At United States Department of the Treasury - Internal Revenue Service - Bureau of Prohibition, 16 of 37 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 43.2% of this agency's fallen.

United States Department of the Treasury - Internal Revenue Service - Bureau of Prohibition
16
of 37 officers
43.2% Accident
DC — Statewide
454
of 1,419 officers
32% Accident
Nationwide
1
of 97,759 officers
0% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Joseph Allen Purvis's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
1 (0%)
Accident
1 (0%)
Illness
1 (0%)
Cardiac
1 (0%)
Undetermined
1 (0%)
Suicide
1 (0%)

How Joseph Allen Purvis Compares

Age at Death
65
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
8
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Joseph Allen Purvis is highlighted in Mar.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
708
May
848
Jun
797
Jul
899
Aug
938
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897

Military Service

Joseph Allen Purvis served in the U.S. Coast Guard before joining law enforcement.

Visit Joseph Allen Purvis’s page on salute.nw →

His full service record — units, decorations, where he served — is kept on salute.nw.