Roll of Honor

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Patrolman

Jay R. Van Dusen

Amherst Police Department — Amherst, NY

Cardiac

End of Watch February 2, 1972

Age 53

Tour of Duty 18 yrs

The Vigil Panel 109 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 1

Incident

Patrolman Jay Van Dusen suffered a fatal heart attack while responding to an emergency call involving a woman walking in the roadway in extremely cold weather conditions.

Following the heart attack, his patrol car struck a snowbank. He was located by other officers and transported to a local hospital where he died a short time later.

Patrolman Van Dusen was a United States Army Air Force WWII veteran who served with the Amherst Police Department for 18 years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and four children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-NY-8307B501
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.
Patrolman Van Dusen gave the Amherst Police Department 18 years.
Thank you for your service to the Amherst community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrolman Van Dusen.

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

Agency

Department Amherst Police Department

Location Amherst, NY

Platform Identity amhepd.erie.ny.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch February 2, 1972

Tour of Duty 18 yrs

Age 53

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Cardiac

Patrolman Jay R. Van Dusen is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In NY, 99 of 2,147 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.6% of this state's fallen. That is 0.6 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.

At Amherst Police Department, 1 of 2 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.

Amherst Police Department

of 2 officers

50% Cardiac

NY — Statewide

of 2,147 officers

4.6% Cardiac

Nationwide

1,306

of 32,508 officers

4% Cardiac

National Cause Distribution

How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Jay R. Van Dusen'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 Jay R. Van Dusen Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Cardiac: 48.6 years

Years of Service

This officer

Avg for Cardiac: 15.6 years

When Cardiac Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Jay R. Van Dusen is highlighted in Feb.

Jan

124

Feb

105

Mar

Apr

116

May

115

Jun

Jul

Aug

104

Sep

109

Oct

121

Nov

113

Dec

111

Others Who Wore This Badge

1 officer from Amherst Police Department are honored on badge.nw.