Roll of Honor
Incident
Police Officer John Blanford suffered a fatal heart attack after struggling with a subject he had arrested for disorderly conduct at approximately 7:00 am.
He was walking to the police station to report to duty when encountered the man near the intersection of 18th Street and Walnut Street acting in a disorderly manner. He placed the man under arrest and began walking him to the police station at 15th Street and Locust Street. After walking several blocks the man began to struggle with Officer Blanford and attempted to escape.
Officer Blanford was able to subdue him and continued to the police station, where the man again attempted to escape. He was subdued by Policeman Blanford and other officers and placed in a cell. Officer Blanford collapsed moments later.
Officer Blanford had served with the Philadelphia Police Department for 33 years and was assigned to the 5th District.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-7513D9CC- 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
33 years. You could have gone home.
Police Officer Blanford gave the Philadelphia Police Department 33 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Philadelphia community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Blanford.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer John N. Blanford 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 PA, 118 of 1,261 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 9.4% of this state's fallen. That is 5.4 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
At Philadelphia Police Department, 37 of 378 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 9.8% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John N. Blanford's cause is highlighted.
How John N. Blanford Compares
Offender Outcome
Arrested
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. John N. Blanford is highlighted in Jul.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
377 officers from Philadelphia Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
