Roll of Honor
Incident
Lieutenant Dechen was killed after he was accidentally shot while cleaning his department-issued pistol.
The officer had just completed his department's semi-annual qualifications and was cleaning his .40 caliber Sig Sauer when the weapon discharged. He was shot in the abdomen. He was transported to a local hospital where he died approximately one hour later.
Lieutenant Dechen had been employed with the West Deptford Police Department for 23 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and three teen-age children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NJ-9E6B3836- 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
23 years. You could have gone home.
Lieutenant Dechen gave the West Deptford Police Department 23 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Thorofare community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Lieutenant Dechen.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Lieutenant Kenneth Dechen 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 NJ, 258 of 646 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.9% of this state's fallen. That is 8.9 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Kenneth Dechen's cause is highlighted.
How Kenneth Dechen Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Kenneth Dechen is highlighted in Oct.