Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer John Duty succumbed to injuries sustained three days prior when he was struck by a car during a traffic stop in the 2800 block of Jule Street. He was speaking to the driver of the vehicle he had stopped when another vehicle struck his motorcycle and then him. He remained in a coma until passing away three days later. The driver who struck him was charged with carless driving and failure to maintain proper control. Officer Duty had served with the St. Joseph Police Department for 27 years and was well known for his work with the Officer Friendly school safety patrol program.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife, two sons, daughter, mother, brother, and sister.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MO-D8F9C337- 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
27 years. You could have gone home.
Officer Duty gave the St. Joseph Police Department 27 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the St. Joseph community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Duty.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Officer John W. Duty 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. Joseph Police Department, 5 of 13 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 38.5% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John W. Duty's cause is highlighted.
How John W. Duty Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John W. Duty is highlighted in Sep.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
12 officers from St. Joseph Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
