Incident
Officer Hansen was electrocuted when he attempted to pick up a live wire which had fallen onto the ground. He was killed instantly when he touched the wire.
Survivors
Officer Hansen was survived by his daughter.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-ND-DDFD9E03- 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.
Officer Hansen served with the Velva Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Velva community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Hansen.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Officer William Walter Hansen 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 ND, 15 of 61 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 24.6% of this state's fallen. That is 6.4 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William Walter Hansen's cause is highlighted.
How William Walter Hansen Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. William Walter Hansen is highlighted in Sep.