Robert J. MacDougall
Agency patch
Trooper

Robert J. MacDougall

Massachusetts State Police — Framingham, MA
Accident
End of Watch August 6, 1971
Age 25
Tour of Duty 3 yrs
The Vigil Panel 108 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Trooper Robert MacDougall was struck and killed by a vehicle on Route 20 near Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, while investigating an earlier assault. He was standing in front of a vehicle containing a person he suspected of being involved in the assault. A tractor trailer struck the back of that vehicle, pushing it into Trooper MacDougall. Trooper MacDougall had served with the agency for 3 years.

Survivors

He was survived by a son who later became a trooper for the agency.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-MA-D59D77AE
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.
Trooper MacDougall gave the Massachusetts State Police 3 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of Massachusetts. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Trooper MacDougall.

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

Agency

Location Framingham, MA
Platform Identity masp.ma.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch August 6, 1971
Tour of Duty 3 yrs
Age 25
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Trooper Robert J. MacDougall 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 MA, 158 of 469 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.7% of this state's fallen. That is 2.7 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

At Massachusetts State Police, 25 of 38 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 65.8% of this agency's fallen.

Massachusetts State Police
25
of 38 officers
65.8% Accident
MA — Statewide
158
of 469 officers
33.7% Accident
Nationwide
10,088
of 32,508 officers
31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Robert J. MacDougall's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How Robert J. MacDougall Compares

Age at End of Watch
25
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
3
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Robert J. MacDougall is highlighted in Aug.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
707
May
847
Jun
795
Jul
897
Aug
937
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897

Incident Location