George Arnold Kemp

Thomasville Police Department — Thomasville, NC

Felonious

End of Watch December 7, 1942

Age 38

Tour of Duty 10 mo

The Vigil Panel 79 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 7

Incident

Officer George Kemp was killed by a blow to the back of his head that fractured his skull. His body was then placed in the elevator shaft at the First National Bank, 10 Salem Street, by one or more suspects. Officer Kemp was last seen alive by his partner at 4:00 am. A search began for Officer Kemp when he failed to relieve the desk officer at 5:00 am. At 5:30 am, his partner found the front door of the First National Bank unlocked and its elevator on the first floor. Between 2:00 and 3:00 am that same morning, the door had been found locked by Officer Kemp and his partner. At 7:00 am, police returned to the bank to find the doors locked with the elevator still on the first floor. Shortly after 3:00 pm that same day, Officer Kemp's body was discovered in the elevator shaft. It was believed by many citizens and investigators that one to two days earlier, after closing hours at the same bank where Officer Kemp's body was found, he had stumbled upon activities that, if made public, would destroy the reputations of certain prominent citizens and that one or more of these citizens murdered or had him murdered for that reason. He had earlier expressed concern to his wife for having walked in on these citizens while on patrol but was unable to elaborate on details because his children had entered the room. A Davidson County Coroner's Jury ruled that Officer Kemp's death was a homicide. Despite this ruling, some local leaders propagated for decades a theory that Officer Kemp accidentally fell to his death in the elevator shaft. It was never determined who unlocked and relocked the door of the bank between 3:00 am and 7:00 am that morning. It was physically impossible that Officer Kemp could have gotten into the pit of the shaft without the elevator having been raised. Because of the interlocking and safety devices of the era, the elevator would not operate without all doors of the shaft being closed. Therefore, those concealing the officer's body had to have then intentiona

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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.
Officer Kemp served with the Thomasville Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Thomasville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Kemp.

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

Agency

Department Thomasville Police Department

Location Thomasville, NC

Platform Identity tpd.davidson.nc.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch December 7, 1942

Tour of Duty 10 mo

Age 38

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Blunt object

Offender Never charged

Officer George Arnold Kemp is one of 17,623 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 54.2% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In NC, 385 of 664 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 58% of this state's fallen. That is 3.8 percentage points above the national rate of 54.2%.

At Thomasville Police Department, 5 of 8 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 62.5% of this agency's fallen.

Thomasville Police Department

of 8 officers

62.5% Felonious

NC — Statewide

385

of 664 officers

58% Felonious

Nationwide

17,623

of 32,508 officers

54.2% Felonious