James L. Dowdy, Jr.

Fort Worth Police Dept. — Fort Worth, TX

Accident

End of Watch June 17, 1956

Age 24

Tour of Duty 8 mo

Badge 476

The Vigil Panel 92 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 58

Incident

Officer James Dowdy was killed when a meat company truck struck his motorcycle while chasing drag racers on Father's Day. The collision occurred on North Main Street near 23rd Street. Officer Dowdy had served with the Fort Worth Police Department for eight months.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and 3-year-old son.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-TX-E95A39A6
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.
Officer Dowdy served with the Fort Worth Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Fort Worth community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Dowdy.

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

Agency

Department Fort Worth Police Dept.

Location Fort Worth, TX

Platform Identity fwpd.tarrant.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch June 17, 1956

Tour of Duty 8 mo

Age 24

Badge Number 476

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Weapon Automobile

Offender Not available

Officer James L. Dowdy, Jr. 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 TX, 653 of 2,421 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27% of this state's fallen. That is 4 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

At Fort Worth Police Dept., 19 of 59 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 32.2% of this agency's fallen.

Fort Worth Police Dept.

of 59 officers

32.2% Accident

TX — Statewide

653

of 2,421 officers

27% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident