Roll of Honor
Incident
Patrolman Birch Puff suffered a fatal heart attack while escorting another police officer to police headquarters after the other officer had shot a subject.
The other officer and a hack driver had become engaged in a heated argument over the pending mayoral election. During the argument the hack driver assaulted the officer, took his club, and beat him. The officer then followed the man into a saloon where he fatally shot him. After shooting the man, the officer turned himself in to Officer Puff. As they walked to police headquarters Officer Puff suddenly collapsed near the intersection of 16th Street and Market Street.
The officer he was escorting proceeded to headquarters and surrendered.
Patrolman Puff served with the Louisville Police Department for ten years.
Rest in peace Patrolman Puff.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis November 29th, 2021
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-KY-B9F707CE- 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
136 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Patrolman Puff gave the Louisville Police Department 10 years.
Thank you for your service to the Louisville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Patrolman Birch Puff 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 KY, 44 of 983 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.5% of this state's fallen. That is 0.5 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
At Louisville Police Department, 2 of 91 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 2.2% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Birch Puff's cause is highlighted.
How Birch Puff Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Birch Puff is highlighted in Nov.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
90 officers from Louisville Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
