Roll of Honor
Lawrence Onley
Incident
Corporal Lawrence Onley died after having a confirmed exposure to a COVID-19 patient while on duty.
Corporal Onley had served with the Naval District Washington Police Department for 23 years and was assigned to the Naval Research Lab.
COVID-19 and Law Enforcement
Corporal Lawrence Onley died on April 21, 2020 of COVID-19 contracted in the line of duty. He was 63.
He is one of 884 officers honored here.
Beginning in early 2020, law enforcement officers across the country contracted COVID-19 in the course of their duties. While much of the nation sheltered at home, they kept answering calls, making arrests, transporting prisoners, and working face to face with the public. There was no distance to be had from the job.
Corrections officers were hit hardest. Confined facilities and large populations meant constant, close, unavoidable exposure.
Survivors
He is survived by his daughter and fiancee.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-FED-BCA59FC6- 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
The country locked its doors. You kept working.
Corporal Onley gave the United States Department of Defense 23 years.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Corporal Onley.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Lawrence Onley served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.
Corporal Lawrence Onley is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In DC, 137 of 1,419 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 9.7% of this state's fallen. That is 0.6 percentage points above the national rate of 9.1%.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Lawrence Onley's cause is highlighted.
How Lawrence Onley Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Lawrence Onley is highlighted in Apr.