Roll of Honor
Incident
Patrolman Clark died when he was electrocuted by a heavily-charged electric wire.
Patrolman Clark and another officer noticed that an electric wire was sparking and that power in the area had been affected. An employee of the power company was summoned to the location. The employee decided the best course of action was to pull the wire down, so he threw a long rope over it and pulled it down. When the wire came down, it began to twist and turned toward Patrolman Clark. Patrolman Clark tried to knock the wire away with his club, but the wire made contact with his face, killing him.
Patrolman Clark fell backward into the arms of the other officer. An ambulance was summoned, but nothing could be done to revive Patrolman Clark.
The linesman from the electric company was arrested and charged with manslaughter. It was alleged that he carelessly pulled the wire down and caused the death of Patrolman Clark.
Patrolman Clark had served with the Harrison Police Department for 10 months, and was survived by his mother and brother.
Survivors
Patrolman Clark had served with the Harrison Police Department for 10 months, and was survived by his mother and brother.
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- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
129 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Patrolman Clark served with the Harrison Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Harrison community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Patrolman John J. Clark 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%.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John J. Clark's cause is highlighted.
How John J. Clark Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John J. Clark is highlighted in Mar.