Roll of Honor
Incident
Police Officer John Burns was struck and killed by a train. He was attempting to arrest a suspect for narcotics possession and was pursuing the suspect on foot when he was struck and killed by a Penn Central Railroad train on the tracks near the Poplar Street overpass. Officer Burns had served with the Rahway Police Department for only six months.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and two daughters.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NJ-1C0C9C79- 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 Burns served with the Rahway Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Rahway community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Burns.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer John James Burns 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 NJ, 258 of 646 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.9% of this state's fallen. That is 8.9 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Rahway Police Department, 4 of 9 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 44.4% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John James Burns's cause is highlighted.
How John James Burns Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John James Burns is highlighted in Jan.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
8 officers from Rahway Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
