Roll of Honor
Incident
Chief of Police William Robbins suffered a fatal heart attack following a foot pursuit of two subjects near Shelton's railroad station.
Authorities in Hawleyville had called Chief Robbins and asked him to arrest the two men when they arrived on a freight train. Chief Robbins disguised himself and when he found the two men getting off of the train he attempted to arrest them. He chased them up a steep embankment before placing them in custody.
He returned to the railroad station when he suddenly collapsed.
Chief Robbins had served with the Shelton Police Department for 17 years. He had previously served as the town bailiff and with the Shelton Fire Department.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CT-E666F20B- 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 never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Chief of Police Robbins gave the Shelton Police Department 17 years.
Thank you for your service to the Shelton community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Robbins.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Chief of Police William P. Robbins 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 P. Robbins's cause is highlighted.
How William P. Robbins Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. William P. Robbins is highlighted in Nov.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from Shelton Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
