Robert E. Beasley

Petersburg Bureau of Police — Petersburg, VA

Felonious

End of Watch February 6, 1916

Age 36

Tour of Duty 7 mo

The Vigil Panel 30 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 6

Incident

Patrol Officer Robert Beasley was assaulted while using a police call box at the corner of Halifax Street and Mistletoe Street. He was reporting he had a man under arrest who had robbed a woman earlier of her groceries she had bought as she left the store. At about 3:45 am when the line suddenly went dead, officers went to his location and found his body. His head had been beaten to a point that he was unrecognizable. The suspect, who openly bragged about what he had done, found himself surrounded in a house near Poe Station by several Petersburg policemen three nights later. As he tried to escape he was shot several times and killed. Officer Beasley had served with the Petersburg Police Department for only seven months.

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Permanent identifier: BO-US-VA-0F688EE1
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.
Patrol Officer Beasley served with the Petersburg Bureau of Police.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrol Officer Beasley.

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

Agency

Department Petersburg Bureau of Police

Location Petersburg, VA

Platform Identity petepd.fed.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch February 6, 1916

Tour of Duty 7 mo

Age 36

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Blunt object

Offender Shot and killed

Patrol Officer Robert E. Beasley is one of 17,623 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 54.2% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In VA, 395 of 654 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 60.4% of this state's fallen. That is 6.2 percentage points above the national rate of 54.2%.

At Petersburg Bureau of Police, 5 of 7 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 71.4% of this agency's fallen.

Petersburg Bureau of Police

of 7 officers

71.4% Felonious

VA — Statewide

395

of 654 officers

60.4% Felonious

Nationwide

17,623

of 32,508 officers

54.2% Felonious