Roll of Honor
Incident
Lieutenant J.O. Richard died after contracting Hepatitis C as the result of a blood transfusion received after he was shot in the line of duty on September 12th, 1973.
He and another officer had responded to two false alarms at a local bank at the intersection of N Union Street and E Landry Street. Upon responding to a third alarm that morning they encountered two robbery suspects who were fleeing the building. The subjects opened fire on the officers, shooting Lieutenant Richard five times.
The wounds and complications caused one of his legs to be amputated above the knee and he required 29 pints of blood, which was unscreened. Some of the blood he received was tainted with Hepatitis C, which he contracted. His health continued to deteriorate and he died as a result of the illness on September 28th, 2010.
Lieutenant Richard is survived by his wife and two children.
Survivors
Lieutenant Richard is survived by his wife and two children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-LA-82A67591- 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 never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Lieutenant Richard served with the Opelousas Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Opelousas community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Lieutenant Richard.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Lieutenant Joseph Oscar "J.O." Richard, Jr. is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In LA, 28 of 595 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 4.7% of this state's fallen. That is 4.4 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.
At Opelousas Police Department, 1 of 3 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 33.3% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Joseph Oscar "J.O." Richard, Jr.'s cause is highlighted.
How Joseph Oscar "J.O." Richard, Jr. Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Joseph Oscar "J.O." Richard, Jr. is highlighted in Sep.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from Opelousas Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
