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Chief of Police

Douglas Alan Shertzer, Sr.

Lititz Borough Police Department — Lititz, PA

Accident

End of Watch May 11, 2004

Age 45

Tour of Duty 23 yrs

The Vigil Panel 152 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice

Incident

Chief of Police Douglas Shertzer was killed in a motorcycle crash at the intersection of Route 741 and Harrisburg Pike in East Hempfield.

He was driving the department's new motorcycle back to Lititz when an oncoming car made a left turn in front of him, causing a collision. He was transported to Lancaster General Hospital where he died a short time later while undergoing surgery.

He had completed a police motorcycle training course earlier in the month and was driving the department's new motorcycle.

Chief Shertzer had served as chief of the 14-person Lititz Borough Police Department for 10 years and had served with the agency for a total of 23 years.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife, three children, and four grandchildren.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-PA-A83AC05D
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

23 years. You could have gone home.
Chief of Police Shertzer gave the Lititz Borough Police Department 23 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Lititz community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Shertzer.

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

Agency

Department Lititz Borough Police Department

Location Lititz, PA

Platform Identity lbpd.lancaster.pa.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch May 11, 2004

Tour of Duty 23 yrs

Age 45

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Chief of Police Douglas Alan Shertzer, Sr. 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 PA, 417 of 1,261 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.1% of this state's fallen. That is 2.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

Lititz Borough Police Department

of 1 officers

100% Accident

PA — Statewide

417

of 1,261 officers

33.1% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Douglas Alan Shertzer, Sr.'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 Douglas Alan Shertzer, Sr. Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Accident: 38.1 years

Years of Service