Roll of Honor

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Police Officer

Paul Thomas Rutherford

Phoenix Police Department — Phoenix, AZ

Veteran → Accident

End of Watch March 21, 2019

Age 51

Tour of Duty 23 yrs

Badge 6403

The Vigil Panel 169 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Military Department 46

Incident

Police Officer Paul Rutherford was struck and killed by a vehicle near the intersection of 75th Avenue and Indian School Road at 8:30 am.

He was at the scene of an earlier accident when a call involving an armed subject was dispatched at a location across the street. He was attempting to cross the street to respond to the call when he was struck by a vehicle. He was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries a short time later.

Officer Rutherford was a U.S. Air Force veteran and had served with the Phoenix Police Department for 23 years.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife and two children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-AZ-AC66D23D
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. Air Force. One record, 2 gates. Paul 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.
Police Officer Rutherford gave the Phoenix Police Department 23 years.
Thank you for your service to the Phoenix community. Thank you for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.

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

Agency

Department Phoenix Police Department

Type Other

Location Phoenix, Maricopa County, AZ

Platform Identity phoepd.maricopa.az.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch March 21, 2019

Tour of Duty 23 yrs

Age 51

Badge Number 6403

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Military Service

Paul Thomas Rutherford served in the U.S. Air Force (1987â1996) before joining law enforcement.

View full service record on salute.nw →

Police Officer Paul Thomas Rutherford 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 AZ, 95 of 330 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 28.8% of this state's fallen. That is 28.8 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At Phoenix Police Department, 14 of 47 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 29.8% of this agency's fallen.

Phoenix Police Department

of 47 officers

29.8% Accident

AZ — Statewide

of 330 officers

28.8% Accident

Nationwide

of 97,759 officers

0% Accident