Roll of Honor
Incident
Lieutenant William Emerson suffered a fatal heart attack during a SWAT training exercise.
The team had just completed a one mile run around the track at Florida Atlantic University when suddenly collapsed shortly before noon.
Lieutenant Emerson was a charter member and past president of the Fraternal Order of Police, Boca Raton Lodge 35.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-FL-7D3E44BD- Stewardship
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- 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.
Lieutenant Emerson gave the Boca Raton Police Department 11 years.
Thank you for your service to the Boca Raton community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Lieutenant Emerson.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Lieutenant William L. Emerson 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 FL, 62 of 1,008 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 6.2% of this state's fallen. That is 2.2 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William L. Emerson's cause is highlighted.
How William L. Emerson Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. William L. Emerson is highlighted in May.