Roll of Honor
Incident
Corrections Officer Vassar Richmond died from complications as the result of contracting COVID-19 while working at the Bartlett City Jail at 3730 Appling Road.
Corrections Officer Richmond had served with the Bartlett Police Department for three years. He had previously served with the Tennessee Department of Correction for five years and the Federal Bureau of Prisons for 30 years.
COVID-19 and Law Enforcement
Corrections Officer Vassar Odean Richmond died on October 4, 2021 of COVID-19 contracted in the line of duty. He was 62.
He is one of 884 officers honored here.
Beginning in early 2020, law enforcement officers across the country contracted COVID-19 in the course of their duties. While much of the nation sheltered at home, they kept answering calls, making arrests, transporting prisoners, and working face to face with the public. There was no distance to be had from the job.
Corrections officers were hit hardest. Confined facilities and large populations meant constant, close, unavoidable exposure.
Survivors
Corrections Officer Richmond is survived by his wife, son, and two daughters.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-TN-8C794E23- 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
The country locked its doors. You kept working.
Corrections Officer Richmond gave the Bartlett Police Department 38 years.
Thank you for your service to the Bartlett community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Corrections Officer Richmond.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Corrections Officer Vassar Odean Richmond is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In TN, 43 of 769 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 5.6% of this state's fallen. That is 3.5 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Vassar Odean Richmond's cause is highlighted.
How Vassar Odean Richmond Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Vassar Odean Richmond is highlighted in Oct.