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Briggs Chumley
Agency patch
Detective

Briggs Chumley

Oklahoma City Police Department — Oklahoma City, OK
Felonious
United States flag Oklahoma flag
End of Watch November 3, 1924
Age 44
Badge 228
The Vigil Panel 48 ›
Gender Male
Incident Media Service The Sacrifice Memorials 1 Department 32

Incident

Detective Chumley was shot and killed while arresting a suspect for robbery at the corner of 4th Street and Olie Street. Detective Chumley and his partner confronted the suspect just minutes after a robbery. The detectives searched the suspect and after finding no weapon, the detectives holstered their weapons. The suspect then pulled a gun from inside his coveralls and shot both detectives, killing Detective Chumley. The suspect escaped the scene, but was later captured and sentenced to life imprisonment. On July 30, 1931, Governor W. H. Murray granted the suspect a one year parole because the suspect was the first to be convicted on an admission of guilt after being given a newly developed truth serum. Governor Murray considered the serum to be no more than circumstantial evidence that needed to be studied more. Four months later the suspect was arrested in Fort Worth, Texas, for burglary. After serving a prison term in Texas he was returned to the Oklahoma Penitentiary and paroled in 1943. On June 2, 1949, he was arrested for armed robbery in Lynwood, California. He was also connected to two more robberies in California and two more in Arizona. He was sentenced in California for life as an "habitual offender". In 1952 he was seriously injured when he fell from a rope while attempting to escape from Folsom Prison.

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August 2, 2026
Last updated
August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Detective Chumley served with the Oklahoma City Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Oklahoma City community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Detective Chumley.

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

Agency

Department Oklahoma City Police Department
Type Other
Location Oklahoma City, Canadian County, OK
Platform Identity opd.oklahoma.ok.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch November 3, 1924
Age 44
Badge Number 228
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious
Weapon Gun

The Sacrifice · Felonious

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

34,117 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

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Compare against
I

Time

In 1924, 225 officers in the United States were killed feloniously, the 4th heaviest of 213 years on record. The heaviest was 1921, with 248.

Every year on record · United States
II

Who

Briggs was 44. 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.

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

Oklahoma City Police Department has 33 officers remembered here, Briggs among them.

Across the years

Detective Briggs Chumley

Oklahoma City Police Department · End of Watch November 3, 1924

Where the Name Is Cut

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial · Panel 46-E

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