Roll of Honor

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Reserve Officer

Theodore Herman Brassinga

Palo Alto Police Dept. — Palo Alto, CA

Accident

End of Watch May 15, 1994

Age 33

Tour of Duty 1 yrs

Badge R-21

The Vigil Panel 140 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 2

Incident

Reserve Officer Theodore Brassinga was accidentally shot and killed during a multi-agency training exercise aboard an Amtrak train for the 1994 World Cup Soccer tournament. The officers in the exercise were supposed to have unloaded weapons. Officer Brassinga had served with the Palo Alto Police Department for 1 year.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife and son.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-CA-D6BF2E90
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

You barely got started.
Reserve Officer Brassinga gave the Palo Alto Police Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Palo Alto community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Reserve Officer Brassinga.

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

Agency

Department Palo Alto Police Dept.

Location Palo Alto, CA

Platform Identity papd.santaclara.ca.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch May 15, 1994

Tour of Duty 1 yrs

Age 33

Badge Number R-21

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Reserve Officer Theodore Herman Brassinga 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 Palo Alto Police Dept., 2 of 3 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 66.7% of this agency's fallen.

Palo Alto Police Dept.

of 3 officers

66.7% Accident

CA — Statewide

719

of 1,837 officers

39.1% 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. Theodore Herman Brassinga'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 Theodore Herman Brassinga Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Accident: 38.1 years

Years of Service

This officer

Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Theodore Herman Brassinga is highlighted in May.

Jan

820

Feb

730

Mar

748

Apr

707

May

847

Jun

795

Jul

897

Aug

937

Sep

913

Oct

925

Nov

872

Dec

897

Others Who Wore This Badge

2 officers from Palo Alto Police Dept. are honored on badge.nw.