Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer Earle Ames was killed when his police motorcycle struck a city bus at the East Bay approach to the Oakland Bay Bridge during heavy fog. He was on a special duty assignment in Oakland at the time of the accident. Officer Ames had served with the California Highway Patrol for 2 years and had previously served as the chief of the Newman Police Department for 4 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife, 9-year-old daughter, and sister.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-25C44A6D- 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.
Officer Ames gave the California Highway Patrol 6 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of California. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Ames.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Officer Earle M. Ames 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 California Highway Patrol, 151 of 233 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 64.8% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Earle M. Ames's cause is highlighted.
How Earle M. Ames Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Earle M. Ames is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
232 officers from California Highway Patrol are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
