John Rutherford Watson
Inspector

John Rutherford Watson

Illness
End of Watch February 13, 1967
Age 50
The Vigil Panel 200 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Collapsed and died while on supervisory patrol and conducting enquiries in the village of Thornhill.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-GB-DGC-361C27F8
Stewardship
Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw
April 8, 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.
Inspector Watson served with the Dumfries & Galloway Constabulary.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Inspector Watson.

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

Agency

Location SCT
Platform Identity dgco.dgy.sct.gb.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch February 13, 1967
Age 50
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness
Cause Detail Medical

Inspector John Rutherford Watson is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In SCT, 109 of 308 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 35.4% of this state's fallen. That is 26.3 percentage points above the national rate of 9.1%.

At Dumfries & Galloway Constabulary, 1 of 6 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 16.7% of this agency's fallen.

Dumfries & Galloway Constabulary
1
of 6 officers
16.7% Illness
SCT — Statewide
109
of 308 officers
35.4% Illness
Nationwide
2,974
of 32,508 officers
9.1% Illness

National Cause Distribution

How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Rutherford Watson'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 John Rutherford Watson Compares

Age at End of Watch
50
This officer
Avg for Illness: 47.8 years

When Illness Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. John Rutherford Watson is highlighted in Feb.

Jan
294
Feb
198
Mar
185
Apr
226
May
201
Jun
181
Jul
217
Aug
281
Sep
291
Oct
376
Nov
239
Dec
285