Roll of Honor
Incident
Chief of Police Hiram Shearer was killed when he was struck by a child's snow sled while directing traffic in the area of the town square. The sled was moving down a hill at a high rate of speed and struck him, knocking him to the ground, and causing fatal injuries. Chief Shearer had served with the Nevada City Police Department for 29 years. He was survived by his wife and child. He became marshal after losing his right arm in a mine explosion in 1901. The town square was demolished in 1969 to accommodate Route 49 / Route 20 interchange.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and child.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-ECE35F19- 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
29 years. You could have gone home.
Chief of Police Shearer gave the Nevada City Police Department 29 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Nevada City community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Shearer.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Chief of Police Hiram D. Shearer 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 Nevada City Police Department, 2 of 3 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 66.7% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Hiram D. Shearer's cause is highlighted.
How Hiram D. Shearer Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Hiram D. Shearer is highlighted in Jan.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from Nevada City Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
