John Salo

Passaic Police Department — Passaic, NJ

Accident Veteran

End of Watch October 4, 1931

Tour of Duty 3 yrs

The Vigil Panel 63 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 4

Incident

Patrolman John Salo succumbed to injuries sustained earlier in the night when he was struck in the head by a baseball while on duty at Third Ward Park. He was attempting to hold a crowd back when he was struck in the head by the ball. He refused medical treatment after being hit and continued his duties of crowd control and directing traffic until he collapsed. He was taken to St. Mary's Hospital where he died of his injuries. Patrolman Salo was a Merchant Marines veteran of WWI. He was also a local track legend and had won a trans-continental race from New York City to Los Angeles.

Survivors

He had served with the Passaic Police Department for three years and was survived by his wife.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-NJ-206EC747
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 served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Patrolman Salo gave the Passaic Police Department 3 years.
Thank you for your service to the Passaic community, and for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.

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

Agency

Department Passaic Police Department

Location Passaic, NJ

Platform Identity passpd.passaic.nj.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch October 4, 1931

Tour of Duty 3 yrs

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Military Service

John Salo served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.

Patrolman John Salo 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 Passaic Police Department, 3 of 5 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 60% of this agency's fallen.

Passaic Police Department

of 5 officers

60% Accident

NJ — Statewide

258

of 646 officers

39.9% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident