Roll of Honor
Incident
Police Officer Craig Lehner drowned while conducting a training dive in the Niagara River, in the area of Broderick Park and Bird Island Pier.
Members of the agency's Underwater Recovery Team were conducting a regularly scheduled training exercise in swift water currents. Officer Lehner entered the water as part of the training but failed to surface after his safety cable broke while he was submerged.
Officer Lehner's body was recovered on October 17th, 2017, during a massive recovery effort involving over 20 local, state, federal, and Canadian law enforcement agencies.
Officer Lehner was a veteran of the Army National Guard. He had served with the Buffalo Police Department for nine years and was assigned to the Canine Unit.
Survivors
He is survived by his mother and sister.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NY-84A4163D- 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.
Police Officer Lehner gave the Buffalo Police Department 9 years.
Thank you for your service to the Buffalo community. Thank you for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Craig E. Lehner served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.
Police Officer Craig E. Lehner 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 NY, 645 of 2,147 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 30% of this state's fallen. That is 1 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Buffalo Police Department, 26 of 51 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 51% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Craig E. Lehner's cause is highlighted.
How Craig E. Lehner Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Craig E. Lehner is highlighted in Oct.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
50 officers from Buffalo Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
