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Sergeant

Howard James Snider

Ames Police Department — Ames, IA

Accident Veteran

End of Watch June 17, 2012

Age 51

Tour of Duty 23 yrs

The Vigil Panel 161 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice

Incident

Sergeant Howard Snider drowned in Lake Geode while attempting to save his daughter who was in a boat that was drifting away from the dock as the result of strong waves.

He jumped into the water without a life jacket to bring the boat back to shore but suffered a pulmonary embolism and sank below the surface. His body was recovered two hours later.

Sergeant Snider was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and had served with the Ames Police Department for 23 years.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife and two children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-IA-876F5322
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 served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Sergeant Snider gave the Ames Police Department 23 years.
Thank you for your service to the Ames community. Thank you for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Ames Police Department

Location Ames, IA

Platform Identity apd.story.ia.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch June 17, 2012

Tour of Duty 23 yrs

Age 51

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Military Service

Howard James Snider served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.

Sergeant Howard James Snider 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 IA, 71 of 226 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.4% of this state's fallen. That is 0.4 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

Ames Police Department

of 1 officers

100% Accident

IA — Statewide

of 226 officers

31.4% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Howard James Snider's cause is highlighted.

Felonious

17,623 (54.2%)

Accident

10,088 (31%)

Illness

2,974 (9.1%)

Cardiac

1,306 (4%)

Undetermined

260 (0.8%)

Suicide

256 (0.8%)

vehicular

1 (0%)

How Howard James Snider Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Accident: 38.1 years

Years of Service