Roll of Honor
Incident
Police Officer Tanja King was killed when her cruiser struck a light pole while she was responding to an emergency assistance call.
While traveling east on L.B. McLeod Road, she skidded, and her patrol vehicle left the roadway, striking a light pole. The collision caused the concrete light pole to fall on top of the cruiser and trapped Officer King inside. Emergency crews were able to extricate her, and she was flown to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Officer King was a member of the same unit as Officer George DeSalvia, murdered three months earlier while on duty.
Officer King had been in law enforcement for four years and had served with the Orlando Police Department for two years.
Officer King has been memorialized in Orlando, Florida, with a park named Tanja King Memorial Park and a street named after her, Tanja King Boulevard.
Survivors
Survivors include her parents, sister, and three brothers.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-FL-12C0A678- 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.
Police Officer King gave the Orlando Police Department 4 years.
Thank you for your service to the Orlando community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer King.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer Tanja Brigitte King 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 FL, 313 of 1,008 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.1% of this state's fallen. That is 0.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Orlando Police Department, 6 of 16 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 37.5% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Tanja Brigitte King's cause is highlighted.
How Tanja Brigitte King Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Tanja Brigitte King is highlighted in May.
Others Who Wore This Badge
15 officers from Orlando Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
