Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer Michael Hemschmeyer was killed in a traffic crash while responding to another officer’s call for assistance around 2 p.m. A sedan that had pulled over for the officer’s emergency lights was struck from behind by a five-ton city garbage truck at 19th Avenue and the Salt River Bottom in Phoenix. The force of the collision threw the truck into the path of the approaching patrol car, killing Officer Hemschmeyer. Officer Hemschmeyer was a United States Navy Vietnam War veteran and had served with the Phoenix Police Department for four years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife, son, daughter, parents, and two sisters.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-AZ-824666D2- 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 served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Officer Hemschmeyer gave the Phoenix Police Department 4 years.
Thank you for your service to the Phoenix community, and for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Michael D. Hemschmeyer served in the Navy (1964â1969) before joining law enforcement.
Officer Michael D. Hemschmeyer 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 AZ, 95 of 330 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 28.8% of this state's fallen. That is 2.2 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Phoenix Police Dept., 14 of 47 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 29.8% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Michael D. Hemschmeyer's cause is highlighted.
How Michael D. Hemschmeyer Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Michael D. Hemschmeyer is highlighted in Nov.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
46 officers from Phoenix Police Dept. are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
