Arlo F. Smith

Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis Police Department — St. Louis, MI

Accident

End of Watch September 9, 1935

Age 30

The Vigil Panel 70 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 5

Incident

Sergeant Arlo Smith was accidentally shot and killed by an Illinois Central Railroad special agent who mistook him for a suspect in the Terminal Railroad rail yards in East St. Louis, Illinois.

The agents were searching the yards for suspected boxcar thieves. Sergeant Smith was searching the area with a flashlight and was shot when he shined the flashlight on the other agent.

Sergeant Smith was survived by his parents. His father was the Chief Special Agent of the Terminal Railroad Police Department at the time of the shooting.

Survivors

Sergeant Smith was survived by his parents.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-RR-2523283E
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.
Sergeant Smith served with the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the St. Louis community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Smith.

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

Agency

Department Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis Police Department

Location St. Louis, MI

Platform Identity traslpd.rr.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch September 9, 1935

Age 30

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Sergeant Arlo F. Smith 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 MI, 229 of 718 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.9% of this state's fallen. That is 0.9 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

At Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis Police Department, 1 of 6 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 16.7% of this agency's fallen.

Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis Police Department

of 6 officers

16.7% Accident

MI — Statewide

229

of 718 officers

31.9% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident