Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer Norris Epps was killed when the McDonnell Douglas 500E police helicopter he was in crashed into Tampa Bay, near the Howard Frankland Bridge, as he and the pilot searched for a man whose boat had capsized. Officer Epps' body was recovered from the bay eight days later. His partner survived the crash with injuries to his lower extremities.
Survivors
Officer Epps is survived by his wife who served as a dispatcher for the Tampa Police Department.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-FL-E29190C0- 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.
Officer Epps served with the Tampa Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Tampa community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Epps.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Officer Norris B. Epps 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 FL, 313 of 1,008 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.1% of this state's fallen. That is 0.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Tampa Police Dept., 8 of 29 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27.6% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Norris B. Epps's cause is highlighted.
How Norris B. Epps Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Norris B. Epps is highlighted in Jan.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
28 officers from Tampa Police Dept. are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
