William Lord Rucker

Bakersfield Police Department — Bakersfield, CA

Accident Veteran

End of Watch July 20, 1952

Age 29

Tour of Duty 3 yrs

The Vigil Panel 88 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 7

Incident

Officer Rucker was killed in a motorcycle accident while taking his police motorcycle to the motor shop. He was a WWII veteran and had been a POW in a German prison camp for two years.

Survivors

He had been with the agency for three years and was survived by his wife and two sons.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-CA-B878443A
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 Rucker gave the Bakersfield Police Department 3 years.
Thank you for your service to the Bakersfield 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

Department Bakersfield Police Department

Location Bakersfield, CA

Platform Identity bpd.kern.ca.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch July 20, 1952

Tour of Duty 3 yrs

Age 29

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Military Service

William Lord Rucker served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.

Officer William Lord Rucker 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 Bakersfield Police Department, 7 of 8 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 87.5% of this agency's fallen.

Bakersfield Police Department

of 8 officers

87.5% Accident

CA — Statewide

719

of 1,837 officers

39.1% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident