Roll of Honor
Incident
Chief of Police Kenneth Kirkland suffered a fatal heart attack while moving clearing out the department's storage shed.
He had moved several pieces of equipment that weighed over 100 pounds each into the department's pickup truck. He was driving the items to the county landfill when he suffered a heart attack. His vehicle left the roadway and became obscured by trees and bushes along Georgia Highway 45. He was located later in the evening after a search was initiated when he failed to arrive at a community speaking engagement.
Chief Kirkland had served with the Colquitt Police Department for 20 years and had served in law enforcement for a total of 30 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife, two sons, and brother.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-GA-82BDE80A- 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.
Chief of Police Kirkland gave the Colquitt Police Department 30 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Colquitt community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Kirkland.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Chief of Police Kenneth Ray Kirkland 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 GA, 23 of 903 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 2.5% of this state's fallen. That is 1.5 percentage points below the national rate of 4%.
At Colquitt Police Department, 1 of 2 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Kenneth Ray Kirkland's cause is highlighted.
How Kenneth Ray Kirkland Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Kenneth Ray Kirkland is highlighted in Aug.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
1 officer from Colquitt Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
