Roll of Honor
Incident
Detective Sears and several officers had conducted a raid of a home and arrested two suspects for armed robbery. While questioning the suspects Detective Sears suffered a fatal heart attack.
Survivors
He had been with the agency for 13 years and was survived by his wife and child.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MA-5B7FBCA8- 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.
Detective Sears gave the Springfield Police Department 13 years.
Thank you for your service to the Springfield community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Detective Sears.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Detective Francis W. Sears 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 MA, 44 of 469 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 9.4% of this state's fallen. That is 5.4 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
At Springfield Police Department, 2 of 19 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 10.5% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Francis W. Sears's cause is highlighted.
How Francis W. Sears Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Francis W. Sears is highlighted in Sep.
Others Who Wore This Badge
18 officers from Springfield Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
