John C. Thomas, III
Officer

John C. Thomas, III

Norfolk Police Dept. — Norfolk, VA
Accident
End of Watch April 4, 1984
Age 31
Tour of Duty 10 yrs
Badge 575
The Vigil Panel 128 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Officer John Thomas succumbed to injuries sustained three days earlier when his police motorcycle was struck by a vehicle.

Officer Thomas had served with the Norfolk Police Department for 10 years.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-VA-22EFCEF2
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 Thomas gave the Norfolk Police Department 10 years.
Thank you for your service to the Norfolk community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Thomas.

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

Agency

Location Norfolk, VA
Platform Identity npd.norfolk.va.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch April 4, 1984
Tour of Duty 10 yrs
Age 31
Badge Number 575
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Officer John C. Thomas, III 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 VA, 203 of 654 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31% of this state's fallen.

At Norfolk Police Dept., 17 of 39 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 43.6% of this agency's fallen.

Norfolk Police Dept.
17
of 39 officers
43.6% Accident
VA — Statewide
203
of 654 officers
31% Accident
Nationwide
10,088
of 32,508 officers
31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John C. Thomas, III's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How John C. Thomas, III Compares

Age at End of Watch
31
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
10
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John C. Thomas, III is highlighted in Apr.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
707
May
847
Jun
795
Jul
897
Aug
937
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897