Joseph Brian Montijo
Agency patch
Sergeant

Joseph Brian Montijo

Chattanooga Police Department — Chattanooga, TN
Cardiac
End of Watch November 1, 2019
Age 49
Tour of Duty 20 yrs
The Vigil Panel 170 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Sergeant Joe Montijo died as the result of a complication of heat exhaustion sustained on September 12th, 2019, while processing a crime scene in the 3900 block of Dahlia Street.

He was exposed to high temperatures and high humidity for several hours while processing the outdoor homicide scene. He was transported to the hospital from the scene after he began to exhibit symptoms of heatstroke. He was treated and released from the hospital but continued to experience health issues as a result of the heatstroke.

On November 1st, 2019, he called 911 after suffering additional health issues and was transported to the hospital in cardiac arrest. He died a short time later.

Sergeant Montijo had served with the Chattanooga Police Department for 12 years and had previously served with the Los Angeles, California, Police Department for eight years.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife, two children, mother, and three sisters.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-TN-683894B7
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

20 years. You could have gone home.
Sergeant Montijo gave the Chattanooga Police Department 20 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Chattanooga community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Montijo.

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

Agency

Location Chattanooga, TN
Platform Identity cpd.hamilton.tn.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch November 1, 2019
Tour of Duty 20 yrs
Age 49
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Cardiac
Cause Detail Heart attack

Sergeant Joseph Brian Montijo is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In TN, 37 of 769 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.8% of this state's fallen. That is 0.8 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.

At Chattanooga Police Department, 2 of 27 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 7.4% of this agency's fallen.

Chattanooga Police Department
2
of 27 officers
7.4% Cardiac
TN — Statewide
37
of 769 officers
4.8% Cardiac
Nationwide
1,306
of 32,508 officers
4% Cardiac

National Cause Distribution

How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Joseph Brian Montijo's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How Joseph Brian Montijo Compares

Age at End of Watch
49
This officer
Avg for Cardiac: 48.6 years
Years of Service
20
This officer
Avg for Cardiac: 15.6 years

When Cardiac Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Joseph Brian Montijo is highlighted in Nov.

Jan
124
Feb
105
Mar
99
Apr
116
May
115
Jun
95
Jul
94
Aug
104
Sep
109
Oct
121
Nov
113
Dec
111

Incident Location