John Palacios
Agency patch
Police Officer

John Palacios

Huron Police Department — Huron, CA
Felonious
End of Watch June 13, 1976
Age 21
Tour of Duty 1 yrs
Badge 8
The Vigil Panel 117 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Officer John Palacios was struck and killed by a drunk driver while assisting at the scene of an accident on State Route 198, near State Route 269 in Fresno County. Officer Palacios was struck by the drunk driver while conducting traffic control at the accident scene. The suspect was taken into custody after being detained by three citizens. He was sentenced to one year in prison. Officer Palacios had been sworn in as a Huron Police officer only three weeks before the accident after serving as a reserve officer for one year. He was survived by his expectant wife and daughter

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-C068FFA4
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.
Police Officer Palacios gave the Huron Police Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Huron community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Palacios.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Location Huron, CA
Platform Identity hpd.fresno.ca.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch June 13, 1976
Tour of Duty 1 yrs
Age 21
Badge Number 8
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious
Weapon Automobile; Alcohol involved
Offender Sentenced to one year

Police Officer John Palacios is one of 17,623 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 54.2% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In CA, 974 of 1,837 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 53% of this state's fallen. That is 1.2 percentage points below the national rate of 54.2%.

Huron Police Department
1
of 1 officers
100% Felonious
CA — Statewide
974
of 1,837 officers
53% Felonious
Nationwide
17,623
of 32,508 officers
54.2% Felonious

National Cause Distribution

How Felonious compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Palacios's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How John Palacios Compares

Age at End of Watch
21
This officer
Avg for Felonious: 39.0 years
Years of Service
1.1
This officer
Avg for Felonious: 8.5 years

Offender Outcome

Sentenced to one year

When Felonious Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Felonious deaths across the full memorial record. John Palacios is highlighted in Jun.

Jan
1,392
Feb
1,295
Mar
1,373
Apr
1,517
May
1,505
Jun
1,443
Jul
1,587
Aug
1,516
Sep
1,553
Oct
1,371
Nov
1,447
Dec
1,624

Weapons Used Against Officers

Most common weapons in felonious officer deaths. John Palacios was killed by automobile; alcohol involved.

Gun; Unknown type
5,083
Handgun
2,077
Shotgun
922
Officer's handgun
909
Automobile; Alcohol involved
530
Rifle
518