Roll of Honor
Incident
Deputy William Ford suffered a fatal heart attack while struggling with subjects he had arrested. He and another deputy had just arrested the men for being intoxicated. During the arrest attempt, the two men resisted and struggled with the officers, almost choking Deputy Ford. The officers were able to subdue the subjects and placed them in the back of their patrol car. While transporting the men to the jail, the suspects began to fight with Deputy Ford across the back seat, as the cruiser was not equipped with a cage. During the struggle, Deputy Ford suffered a fatal heart attack. Deputy Ford had served with the Marengo County Sheriff's Department for eight years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and daughter.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-AL-75119C8C- 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.
Deputy Sheriff Ford gave the Marengo County Sheriff's Department 8 years.
Thank you for your service to the Linden community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Ford.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Deputy Sheriff William Frank Ford is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In AL, 30 of 643 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.7% of this state's fallen. That is 0.7 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
At Marengo County Sheriff's Department, 1 of 2 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William Frank Ford's cause is highlighted.
How William Frank Ford Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. William Frank Ford is highlighted in Jan.
Others Who Wore This Badge
1 officer from Marengo County Sheriff's Department are honored on badge.nw.
