Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer Michael Burke succumbed to injuries sustained 14 months earlier when he was electrocuted by a police call box.
The police department's call box system had experienced a system-wide short circuit. When Officer Burke inserted his key into the call box he was electrocuted.
Officer Nicholas Beckman and Officer John Looney were also electrocuted and 13 other officers were injured as a result of the short circuit.
Officer Burke had served with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department for 14 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and five children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MO-511C9F7C- 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.
Police Officer Burke gave the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department 14 years.
Thank you for your service to the St. Louis community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Burke.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer Michael Burke 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.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Michael Burke's cause is highlighted.
How Michael Burke Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Michael Burke is highlighted in Dec.
Others Who Wore This Badge
175 officers from St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
