Roll of Honor
Incident
Chief of Police William Burkett suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after breaking up a fight involving three intoxicated subjects.
He had responded from his home to an accident scene where he found the three arguing. He called for backup and then attempted to separate the three but was assaulted. Responding officers arrived at the scene and assisted Chief Burkett in taking the subject into custody. After the arrest, Chief Burkett returned home, where he passed away a short time later.
Chief Burkett had served with the Plymouth Police Department for 20 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and two children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-OH-295165B0- 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
20 years. You could have gone home.
Chief of Police Burkett gave the Plymouth Police Department 20 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Plymouth community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Burkett.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Chief of Police William Burkett 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 OH, 43 of 991 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.3% of this state's fallen. That is 0.3 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William Burkett's cause is highlighted.
How William Burkett Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. William Burkett is highlighted in Jul.