Christopher Scott Scales
Agency patch
Trooper I

Christopher Scott Scales

New Jersey State Police — West Trenton, NJ
Accident
End of Watch December 3, 2002
Age 40
Tour of Duty 15 yrs
The Vigil Panel 150 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Trooper Christopher Scales was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer while conducting seat belt enforcement on the New Jersey Turnpike at the Carteret toll plaza.

He was standing next to his marked patrol car when the rear of the tractor-trailer struck him as it exited the toll booth at 11:15 am.

Trooper Scales had served with the New Jersey State Police for 15 years and was assigned to Troop D Tactical Patrol Unit.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife, three children, mother, and brother.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-NJ-F8B056A8
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.
Trooper I Scales gave the New Jersey State Police 15 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of New Jersey. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Trooper I Scales.

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

Agency

Location West Trenton, NJ
Platform Identity njsp.nj.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch December 3, 2002
Tour of Duty 15 yrs
Age 40
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Trooper I Christopher Scott Scales 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 New Jersey State Police, 53 of 84 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 63.1% of this agency's fallen.

New Jersey State Police
53
of 84 officers
63.1% Accident
NJ — Statewide
258
of 646 officers
39.9% Accident
Nationwide
10,088
of 32,508 officers
31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Christopher Scott Scales's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How Christopher Scott Scales Compares

Age at End of Watch
40
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
15
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Christopher Scott Scales is highlighted in Dec.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
707
May
847
Jun
795
Jul
897
Aug
937
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897

Incident Location