Roll of Honor
Incident
Trooper Dafferner was killed in an automobile accident on Tennessee 33 north of Knoxville while on patrol. His patrol car left the roadway and plunged down an embankment.
Trooper Dafferner had served with the agency for only 7 months.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-TN-67C9C3F2- 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.
Trooper Dafferner served with the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Thank you for your service to the people of Tennessee. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Trooper Dafferner.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Trooper Michael Theodore Dafferner 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 TN, 191 of 769 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 24.8% of this state's fallen. That is 6.2 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Tennessee Highway Patrol, 30 of 41 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 73.2% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Michael Theodore Dafferner's cause is highlighted.
How Michael Theodore Dafferner Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Michael Theodore Dafferner is highlighted in Apr.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
40 officers from Tennessee Highway Patrol are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
