Fred B. Houghton
Agency patch
Patrolman

Fred B. Houghton

Kansas City Police Department — Kansas City, MO
Accident
End of Watch May 16, 1882
The Vigil Panel 7 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Patrolman Houghton was accidentally shot and killed when another officer's weapon fell from the officer's pocket and discharged.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-MO-C8CF4913
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

144 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Patrolman Houghton served with the Kansas City Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Kansas City community. Gone but never to be forgotten.

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

Agency

Location Kansas City, MO
Platform Identity kcpd.jackson.mo.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch May 16, 1882
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident
Weapon fell from the officer's pocket and discharged.

Patrolman Fred B. Houghton 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 Kansas City Police Department, 47 of 120 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.2% of this agency's fallen.

Kansas City Police Department
47
of 120 officers
39.2% 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. Fred B. Houghton'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 Fred B. Houghton Compares

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Fred B. Houghton is highlighted in May.

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