Nicholas F. Beckman
Agency patch
Police Officer

Nicholas F. Beckman

Accident
End of Watch September 3, 1900
Age 26
Tour of Duty 1 yrs
The Vigil Panel 16 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Officer Nicholas Beckman and Officer John Looney were electrocuted while attempting to use call boxes on their beats. Earlier in the evening a power line consisting of 3200 volts had crossed onto the police call box circuit at Eight and Carr Street. The crossing of the wires caused the current to go through the call boxes. Officer Michael Burke died of his injuries 14 months later. Thirteen other officers were also injured in the incident. Officer Beckman had served with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department for one year.

Survivors

He was survived by his mother.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-MO-069099C5
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.
Police Officer Beckman gave the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the St. Louis community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Beckman.

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

Agency

Location St. Louis, MO
Platform Identity stlopd.saintlouis.mo.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch September 3, 1900
Tour of Duty 1 yrs
Age 26
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Police Officer Nicholas F. Beckman 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 MO, 237 of 813 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 29.2% of this state's fallen. That is 1.8 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

At St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, 56 of 176 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.8% of this agency's fallen.

St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department
56
of 176 officers
31.8% Accident
MO — Statewide
237
of 813 officers
29.2% Accident
Nationwide
10,088
of 32,508 officers
31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Nicholas F. Beckman's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How Nicholas F. Beckman Compares

Age at End of Watch
26
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
1
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Nicholas F. Beckman is highlighted in Sep.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
707
May
847
Jun
795
Jul
897
Aug
937
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897