Roll of Honor
Incident
Police Officer John Watson died after inhaling illuminating gas while rescuing two victims from their home at 251 North Robinson Street. Officer Watson had served with the Philadelphia Policer Department for 35 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and six children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-C1941359- 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
35 years. You could have gone home.
Police Officer Watson gave the Philadelphia Police Department 35 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 Watson.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer John J. Watson 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%.
At Philadelphia Police Department, 110 of 378 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 29.1% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John J. Watson's cause is highlighted.
How John J. Watson Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John J. Watson is highlighted in Apr.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
377 officers from Philadelphia Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
