Roll of Honor
Incident
Chief of Police Barney Phelan succumbed to injuries sustained nine days earlier when his department vehicle was struck head-on by another vehicle.
He was returning to Tracy from a conference had attended when the accident occurred.
Chief Phelan had served in law enforcement for 28 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-D0D594C8- 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
28 years. You could have gone home.
Chief of Police Phelan gave the Tracy Police Department 28 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Tracy community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Phelan.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Chief of Police Barney Francis Phelan 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 Tracy Police Department, 2 of 5 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 40% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Barney Francis Phelan's cause is highlighted.
How Barney Francis Phelan Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Barney Francis Phelan is highlighted in Oct.
Others Who Wore This Badge
4 officers from Tracy Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
