Roll of Honor
Incident
Police Officers Richard Halford and Shawn Smiley were killed in a helicopter crash while assisting in the search for a missing 9-year-old boy at approximately 10:30 pm.
They were flying low over an area approximately four miles west of downtown when the Hughes OH-6A helicopter suddenly crashed to the ground near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Hamilton E. Holmes Drive. The helicopter exploded after impacting the ground. The cause of the crash is under investigation by the NTSB and FAA.
The boy they were searching for was found safe a short time later.
Officer Halford had served with the Atlanta Police Department for 26 years and had been assigned as a pilot in the Air Unit for 16 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his daughter, parents, brother, and sister.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-GA-FF85DF21- 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
26 years. You could have gone home.
Police Officer Halford gave the Atlanta Police Department 26 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Atlanta community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Halford.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer Richard Joseph Halford 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 GA, 263 of 903 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 29.1% of this state's fallen. That is 1.9 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Atlanta Police Department, 29 of 88 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Richard Joseph Halford's cause is highlighted.
How Richard Joseph Halford Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Richard Joseph Halford is highlighted in Nov.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
87 officers from Atlanta Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
