Roll of Honor
Incident
Patrolman John Blazek died after suffering a head injury when he fell or was pushed to the floor inside the 22nd District's cell room, at 943 West Maxwell Street, the previous night.
He did not realize he had suffered a skull fracture and attempted to go home at the end of his shift at 8:00 am. He was unable to walk all the way home and called another officer to pick him up. Once he got home his condition worsened and he passed away the following day as a result of the head injury.
Patrolman Blazek was a U.S. Army veteran of WWI and had served with the Chicago Police Department for 26 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and two sons.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-IL-1FB9ADF7- 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.
Patrolman Blazek served with the Chicago Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Chicago 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
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
John Blazek served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.
Patrolman John Blazek 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 IL, 354 of 1,318 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 26.9% of this state's fallen. That is 4.1 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Chicago Police Department, 107 of 571 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 18.7% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Blazek's cause is highlighted.
How John Blazek Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John Blazek is highlighted in Jan.
Incident Location
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