Roll of Honor
Incident
Lieutenant John Hallowell suffered a fatal heart attack while struggling with a prisoner inside the 28th Police Station.
A bicycle officer had arrested a man for reckless driving and drunkenness. He was booking the man when he became uncooperative while being searched. A struggle ensued and Lieutenant Hallowell assisted in subduing the subject. After the subject was detained Lieutenant Hallowell complained of not feeling well. He suffered a fatal heart attack inside the police station 30 minutes after the incident.
A coroner's jury ruled Lieutenant Hallowell's cause of death as overexertion due to heart disease and exonerated the subject from all blame and released.
Lieutenant Hallowell is survived by his wife and children.
Survivors
Lieutenant Hallowell is survived by his wife and children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-D824A5EC- 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 never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Lieutenant Hallowell served with the Philadelphia Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Philadelphia community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Lieutenant Hallowell.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Lieutenant John J. Hallowell 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 J. Hallowell's cause is highlighted.
How John J. Hallowell Compares
Offender Outcome
Exonerated
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. John J. Hallowell is highlighted in Sep.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
377 officers from Philadelphia Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
