Roll of Honor
Incident
Chief of Police John Roberts suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after struggling with a suspect who had just escaped from the police department. He had chased the man a short distance and was able to subdue him before collapsing. Chief Roberts had served with the Gordon Police Department for 10 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife, son, three sisters, and brother.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-GA-A8E82B8E- 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 Roberts gave the Gordon Police Department 10 years.
Thank you for your service to the Gordon community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Roberts.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Chief of Police John Edward Roberts 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 GA, 23 of 903 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 2.5% of this state's fallen. That is 1.5 percentage points below the national rate of 4%.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Edward Roberts's cause is highlighted.
How John Edward Roberts Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. John Edward Roberts is highlighted in Nov.