Roll of Honor

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Detective

John E. Roney

Reading Railroad Police Department — Philadelphia, PA

Accident

End of Watch April 18, 1934

Age 52

The Vigil Panel 68 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 2

Incident

Detective John Roney was killed when he was struck by a train near Church Road in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania.

He died after accidentally falling beneath the train while riding it to protect a load of merchandise. His body was found along the tracks at 10:55 pm.

Detective Roney was survived by his wife.

Survivors

Detective Roney was survived by his wife.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-RR-C241F0E3
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.
Detective Roney served with the Reading Railroad Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Philadelphia community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Detective Roney.

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

Agency

Department Reading Railroad Police Department

Location Philadelphia, PA

Platform Identity rrpd.rr.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch April 18, 1934

Age 52

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Detective John E. Roney 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 Reading Railroad Police Department, 2 of 3 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 66.7% of this agency's fallen.

Reading Railroad Police Department

of 3 officers

66.7% 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. John E. Roney'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 John E. Roney Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Accident: 38.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John E. Roney is highlighted in Apr.

Jan

820

Feb

730

Mar

748

Apr

707

May

847

Jun

795

Jul

897

Aug

937

Sep

913

Oct

925

Nov

872

Dec

897

Incident Location

Others Who Wore This Badge

2 officers from Reading Railroad Police Department are honored on badge.nw.