William Bell
Agency patch
Patrolman

William Bell

Illness
End of Watch April 19, 1917
Age 51
Tour of Duty 8 yrs
The Vigil Panel 32 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Patrolman William Bell died as a result of complication of frostbite on his foot.

He contracted frostbite while walking his assigned foot patrol beat. An infection developed that turned into gangrene and he died as a result two months later.

Patrolman Bell served with the Chester City Police Department for eight years.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-597B91F0
Stewardship
Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw
August 2, 2026
Last updated
August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Patrolman Bell gave the Chester City Police Department 8 years.
Thank you for your service to the Chester community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrolman Bell.

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

Agency

Type Police Department
Location Chester, PA
Platform Identity cpd.delaware.pa.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch April 19, 1917
Tour of Duty 8 yrs
Age 51
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness
Cause Detail Duty related illness

Patrolman William Bell is one of 1 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.

In PA, 121 of 1,261 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 9.6% of this state's fallen. That is 9.6 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At Chester City Police Department, 2 of 17 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 11.8% of this agency's fallen.

Chester City Police Department
2
of 17 officers
11.8% Illness
PA — Statewide
121
of 1,261 officers
9.6% Illness
Nationwide
1
of 97,772 officers
0% Illness

National Cause Distribution

How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William Bell's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
1 (0%)
Accident
1 (0%)
Illness
1 (0%)
Cardiac
1 (0%)
Undetermined
1 (0%)
Suicide
1 (0%)

How William Bell Compares

Age at Death
51
This officer
Avg for Illness: 47.7 years
Years of Service
8
This officer
Avg for Illness: 18.7 years

When Illness Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. William Bell is highlighted in Apr.

Jan
294
Feb
198
Mar
186
Apr
226
May
201
Jun
182
Jul
217
Aug
281
Sep
353
Oct
376
Nov
239
Dec
285

Incident Location