Roll of Honor
Richard Rios
Incident
Location: Texas Incident Date: Not available
Officer Richard Rios died from complications as the result of contracting COVID-19 in the line of duty while assigned to the Ysleta Port of Entry in El Paso, Texas.
Officer Rios had served with the Customs and Border Protection - Office of Field Operations for 17 years.
COVID-19 and Law Enforcement
Officer Richard Rios died on December 2, 2020 of COVID-19 contracted in the line of duty. He was 53.
He is one of 884 officers honored here, and one of 29 at United States Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection - Office of Field Operations.
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 wife, two daughters, and mother.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-FED-C9864904- 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.
Officer Rios gave the United States Department of Homeland Security 17 years.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Rios.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Officer Richard Rios 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%.
At United States Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection - Office of Field Operations, 30 of 39 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 76.9% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Richard Rios's cause is highlighted.
How Richard Rios Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Richard Rios is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
38 officers from United States Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection - Office of Field Operations are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
