Samuel D. Sumner

Montgomery Police Dept. — Montgomery, AL

Accident

End of Watch November 5, 1967

Age 37

Tour of Duty 10 yrs

The Vigil Panel 103 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 27

Incident

Detective Sam Sumner died as a result of injuries when his patrol car was involved in a collision at Washington Avenue and Ripley Street in Montgomery. At 12:45 a.m., Detective Sumner's partner was driving west on Washington Avenue when they were struck by a car traveling south on Ripley Street. Detective Sumner was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Margaret's Hospital. His partner suffered head and back injuries. The driver of the other vehicle was charged with manslaughter. Detective Sumner had served with the Montgomery Police Department for ten years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and two daughters.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-AL-CCEBFC09
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.
Detective Sumner gave the Montgomery Police Department 10 years.
Thank you for your service to the Montgomery community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Detective Sumner.

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

Agency

Department Montgomery Police Dept.

Location Montgomery, AL

Platform Identity mpd.montgomery.al.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch November 5, 1967

Tour of Duty 10 yrs

Age 37

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Detective Samuel D. Sumner 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 AL, 182 of 643 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 28.3% of this state's fallen. That is 2.7 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

At Montgomery Police Dept., 12 of 28 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 42.9% of this agency's fallen.

Montgomery Police Dept.

of 28 officers

42.9% Accident

AL — Statewide

182

of 643 officers

28.3% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident