Arthur Richard Huhnke
Agency patch
Police Officer

Arthur Richard Huhnke

Detroit Police Department — Detroit, MI
Felonious
End of Watch November 8, 1920
Age 24
Tour of Duty 1 yrs
Badge 261
The Vigil Panel 39 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Officer Arthur Huhnke was shot and killed while questioning a suspicious man at 41 Sherman Street (Present Day Garnet Avenue). When Officer Huhnke asked the man to take his hands out of his pockets, the man produced a handgun and shot Officer Huhnke twice. An off-duty auxiliary officer who witnessed the shooting fired two shots at the suspect but missed. Officer Huhnke was taken to Receiving Hospital, where he died of his wounds. The suspect was apprehended three weeks later in Detroit as he tried to get on a train headed to Tennessee. He had escaped from Jackson Prison a year earlier. He was wanted in Pensacola, Florida, for five holdups and the murder of a woman. He was convicted of Officer Huhnke's murder and sentenced to life. Officer Huhnke had served with the Detroit Police Department for one year.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and baby child.

In Our Keeping

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Stewardship
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Added to badge.nw
August 2, 2026
Last updated
August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

You barely got started.
Police Officer Huhnke gave the Detroit Police Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Detroit community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Huhnke.

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

Agency

Type Police Department
Location Detroit, Wayne County, MI
Platform Identity detpd.wayne.mi.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch November 8, 1920
Tour of Duty 1 yrs
Age 24
Badge Number 261
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious
Weapon Gun

The Sacrifice · Felonious

Arthur is one of 15,743 officers killed feloniously in the United States, 57.1% of the 27,551 remembered there.

33,917 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

  1. See the roll
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Compare against
I

Time

In 1920, 209 officers in the United States were killed feloniously, the 9th heaviest of 213 years on record. The heaviest was 1921, with 248.

Every year on record · United States
II

Who

Arthur was 24. Of the 14,220 killed feloniously in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 31 and 47; the middle age was 38. Arthur had served 1 year; the middle length of service was 6 years.

Age at death
Where he stood among them
Age by years of service
III

When

November holds 8.1% of these deaths in the United States; December holds the most, 9.4%. Mondays: 13.8%.

By month
By day of the week
IV

How

Felonious deaths account for 57.1% of all 27,551 deaths in the United States, the most common cause. The weapon recorded was gun, in 22.8% of these deaths.

Every cause
Weapons recorded
V

His people

Detroit Police Department has at least 120 officers remembered here, Arthur among them.

Across the years
VI

Where

Police Officer Arthur Richard Huhnke

Detroit Police Department · End of Watch November 8, 1920

Where the Name Is Cut

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial · Panel 34-E

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