Roll of Honor
Incident
Supernumerary Officer William Rich suffered a fatal heart attack following a foot pursuit of an escaped prisoner. The man had escaped while being booked at the police station. Officer Rich chased and apprehended the suspect. Shortly after returning the man to a cell Officer Rich collapsed. Officer Rich had served with the Shelton Police Department for 22 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and three children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CT-9AC90857- 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
22 years. You could have gone home.
Supernumerary Officer Rich gave the Shelton Police Department 22 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Shelton community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Supernumerary Officer Rich.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Supernumerary Officer William F. Rich is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In CT, 14 of 169 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 8.3% of this state's fallen. That is 4.3 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
At Shelton Police Department, 2 of 3 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 66.7% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William F. Rich's cause is highlighted.
How William F. Rich Compares
Offender Outcome
Not available
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. William F. Rich is highlighted in Dec.
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from Shelton Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
