Roll of Honor
Incident
Detective Sergeant John Penn succumbed to injuries suffered the previous day when he was struck by a vehicle while crossing a street at 11:45 pm. The collision caused him to strike his head on the windshield post and suffered a skull fracture. Detective Sergeant Penn had served with the Bloomington Police Department for 30 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and eight children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-IL-2FC53DD2- 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
30 years. You could have gone home.
Detective Sergeant Penn gave the Bloomington Police Department 30 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Bloomington community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Detective Sergeant Penn.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Detective Sergeant John E. "Jack" Penn 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 Bloomington Police Dept., 1 of 2 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John E. "Jack" Penn's cause is highlighted.
How John E. "Jack" Penn Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John E. "Jack" Penn is highlighted in Aug.
Others Who Wore This Badge
1 officer from Bloomington Police Dept. are honored on badge.nw.
