Mathew Montgomery Beacham, Jr.

Greenville Police Department — Greenville, SC

Cardiac

End of Watch September 20, 1983

Age 40

Tour of Duty 16 yrs

The Vigil Panel 127 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 11

Incident

Police Officer Mathew Beacham suffered a fatal heart attack during a foot pursuit.

He was working the front desk at the police station when a juvenile car theft suspect escaped and attempted to flee. Officer Beacham suffered the heart attack as he chased the youth.

Officer Beacham had served with the Greenville Police Department for 16 years.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-SC-43415865
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.
Police Officer Beacham gave the Greenville Police Department 16 years.
Thank you for your service to the Greenville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Beacham.

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

Agency

Department Greenville Police Department

Location Greenville, SC

Platform Identity greenvillepd.greenville.sc.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch September 20, 1983

Tour of Duty 16 yrs

Age 40

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Cardiac

Weapon Person

Offender Cause: Heart attack

Police Officer Mathew Montgomery Beacham, Jr. 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 SC, 20 of 438 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.6% of this state's fallen. That is 0.6 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.

At Greenville Police Department, 1 of 12 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 8.3% of this agency's fallen.

Greenville Police Department

of 12 officers

8.3% Cardiac

SC — Statewide

of 438 officers

4.6% Cardiac

Nationwide

1,306

of 32,508 officers

4% Cardiac