Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer Dick Williams succumbed to injuries sustained on July 4th, 1921, when he fell from his horse.
He was participating in the Independence Day Parade on State Street when his horse became startled by the crowd and bolted. Officer Williams was thrown to the ground and suffered severe head injuries. He slipped into a coma and died several months later.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-3E32FABC- 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 Williams served with the Santa Barbara Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Santa Barbara community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Williams.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Officer Richard Williams 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 CA, 719 of 1,837 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.1% of this state's fallen. That is 8.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Santa Barbara Police Dept., 4 of 5 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 80% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Richard Williams's cause is highlighted.
How Richard Williams Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Richard Williams is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
4 officers from Santa Barbara Police Dept. are honored on badge.nw.
