Roll of Honor
Incident
Police Officer James Dougherty and Inspector Kirk Brookbush were killed when their helicopter crashed near Crows Landing, Stanislaus County.
Officer Dougherty was an experienced aircraft mechanic before joining the San Francisco Police Department. He had served with the San Francisco Police Department for 29 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his three children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-2287E289- 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
29 years. You could have gone home.
Police Officer Dougherty gave the San Francisco Police Department 29 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the San Francisco community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Dougherty.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer James Francis Dougherty 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 CA, 719 of 1,837 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.1% of this state's fallen. That is 8.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At San Francisco Police Department, 35 of 106 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. James Francis Dougherty's cause is highlighted.
How James Francis Dougherty Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. James Francis Dougherty is highlighted in Jan.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
105 officers from San Francisco Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
