Roll of Honor
Incident
Deputy Sheriff Howard Scheffler was killed in an automobile crash near Palm Springs while returning to Indio Station from an official trip to Riverside. During the drive, his vehicle veered off of the divided highway and flipped over. He was working in an undercover capacity while investigating an illegal gambling operation at the time of the crash. Deputy Scheffler had served with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department for one year.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and twin daughters.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-3D916588- 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
You barely got started.
Deputy Sheriff Scheffler gave the Riverside County Sheriff's Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Riverside community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Scheffler.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Deputy Sheriff Howard R. Scheffler 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 Riverside County Sheriff's Department, 12 of 27 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 44.4% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Howard R. Scheffler's cause is highlighted.
How Howard R. Scheffler Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Howard R. Scheffler is highlighted in Feb.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
26 officers from Riverside County Sheriff's Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
