Richard B. Vail

Cook County Sheriff's Office - Department of Court Services — Chicago, IL

Cardiac

End of Watch March 13, 1969

Age 63

Tour of Duty 1 yrs 4 mo

The Vigil Panel 105 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 7

Incident

Deputy Richard Vail suffered a fatal heart attack as he and another deputy struggled with a prisoner in the county's traffic court.

The 20-year-old prisoner, who had been charged with reckless driving, had begun arguing and fighting with other prisoners. As both deputies attempted to calm the man down, Deputy Vail was struck by the prisoner and moments later, he collapsed.

The prisoner was charged with assault and battery.

Deputy Vail had served with the Cook County Sheriff's Office for nearly 1½ years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife, son and brother.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-IL-32F47F14
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

You barely got started.
Deputy Sheriff Vail gave the Cook County Sheriff's Office 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Chicago community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Vail.

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

Agency

Department Cook County Sheriff's Office - Department of Court Services

Location Chicago, IL

Platform Identity ccsodcsso.cook.il.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch March 13, 1969

Tour of Duty 1 yrs 4 mo

Age 63

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Cardiac

Deputy Sheriff Richard B. Vail 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 IL, 45 of 1,318 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 3.4% of this state's fallen. That is 0.6 percentage points below the national rate of 4%.

At Cook County Sheriff's Office - Department of Court Services, 1 of 8 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 12.5% of this agency's fallen.

Cook County Sheriff's Office - Department of Court Services

of 8 officers

12.5% Cardiac

IL — Statewide

of 1,318 officers

3.4% Cardiac

Nationwide

1,306

of 32,508 officers

4% Cardiac