Roll of Honor
Incident
Sergeant John O'Neil drowned while trying to recover a canoe that had gone over St. Anthony Falls. Two of the three men in the canoe had also drowned. Sergeant O'Neil had served with the Minneapolis Police Department for 21 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MN-D97158BA- 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
21 years. You could have gone home.
Sergeant O'Neil gave the Minneapolis Police Department 21 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Minneapolis community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant O'Neil.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sergeant John W. O'Neil 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 MN, 84 of 293 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 28.7% of this state's fallen. That is 2.3 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Minneapolis Police Department, 15 of 50 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 30% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John W. O'Neil's cause is highlighted.
How John W. O'Neil Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John W. O'Neil is highlighted in Jun.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
49 officers from Minneapolis Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
