Roll of Honor
Incident
Location: Arizona Incident Date: Not available
Criminal Investigator Esther Charley died from complications as the result of contracting COVID-19 in the line of duty.
Investigator Charley was assigned to the Dilkon Criminal Investigations and had served 26 years with the Navajo Division of Public Safety.
COVID-19 and Law Enforcement
Criminal Investigator Esther Charley died on June 22, 2020 of COVID-19 contracted in the line of duty. He was 56.
He is one of 884 officers honored here, and one of 2 at Navajo Division of Public Safety.
Beginning in early 2020, law enforcement officers across the country contracted COVID-19 in the course of their duties. While much of the nation sheltered at home, they kept answering calls, making arrests, transporting prisoners, and working face to face with the public. There was no distance to be had from the job.
Corrections officers were hit hardest. Confined facilities and large populations meant constant, close, unavoidable exposure.
Survivors
She is survived by her children and her mother.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NN-TR-AD8A3559- 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
The country locked its doors. You kept working.
Criminal Investigator Charley gave the Navajo Division of Public Safety 26 years.
Thank you for your service to the Window Rock community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Criminal Investigator Charley.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Criminal Investigator Esther Charley is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In AZ, 16 of 330 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 4.8% of this state's fallen. That is 4.3 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.
At Navajo Division of Public Safety, 2 of 17 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 11.8% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Esther Charley's cause is highlighted.
How Esther Charley Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Esther Charley is highlighted in Jun.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
16 officers from Navajo Division of Public Safety are honored on badge.nw.
