Roll of Honor
Incident
Sergeant Richard Betters suffered a fatal heart attack after evacuating residents from a burning building. After the evacuation he remained on scene and assisted with the investigation.
He completed his shift, which involved attending the funeral of a police department employee, before returning home. He suffered a heart attack overnight.
Sergeant Betters had served with the Portland Police Department for 20 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and two children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-ME-42B41401- 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 Betters gave the Portland Police Department 20 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Portland community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Betters.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sergeant Richard Moore Betters 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 ME, 16 of 102 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 15.7% of this state's fallen. That is 11.7 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
At Portland Police Department, 1 of 5 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 20% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Richard Moore Betters's cause is highlighted.
How Richard Moore Betters Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Richard Moore Betters is highlighted in Jan.
Others Who Wore This Badge
4 officers from Portland Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
