Kansas Law Enforcement Officers

Jesse S. Dennis
Type of Officer: Sheriff Deputy
Jurisdiciton: Nemaha County
County: Nemah
Death Date: 11/20/1866
Added to Memorial: 2006
Circumstances of Death:
On November 20, 1866, Nemaha County Sheriff William Boulton led a posse of several local men to join in the pursuit of four horse thieves. Deputy Jesse S. Dennis was one of the three posse members who overtook two of the suspects on the road to Capioma. The suspects, Melvin Baughn and Zach Mooney, opened fire on the deputies, severely wounding Deputy Henry Hillix and fatally wounding Deputy Dennis. The horse thieves escaped after the shooting. Suspect Baughn identified as Deputy Dennis’ murderer was arrested a few months later in Leavenworth and returned to Nemaha County to stand trial. Within a month Baughn and another prisoner escaped the county jail. Baughn was apprehended 15 months later after being wounded by law enforcement officers near Sedalia, Missouri. He was returned to Nemah County where he was tried, convicted and executed for the death of Deputy Dennis. Jesse S. Dennis was 37 years old at the time of his death. He left his wife Mary Ann, daughters Almeda, Nancy, Sarah, Mary Jane and Jesse, and sons Samuel and William.

Nicholas P. Damett
Type of Officer: Sheriff Deputy
Jurisdiction: Sumner County
County: Sumner
Death Date: 11/20/1920
Added To Memorial: 2004
Circmustances of Death:

On the evening of November 20, 1920, Sumner County Deputy Sheriff Nicholas "Nick" Damett, accompanied by the Oxford city marshal, attempted to arrest two brothers on a street in Oxford, Kansas. The men were suspected of stealing a revolver from a local citizen earlier in the day. Before the two officers could make the arrest, one of the suspects drew a gun and shot Deputy Sheriff Damett in the chest, killing him instantly.
Deputy Dammett was 46 years old at the time of his death and was survived by his wife and 10 year old daughter.

Ottis L. Durkee
Type of Officer: Police Officer
Jurisdiction: Chetopa
County: Labette
Death Date: 5/31/1933
Added to Memorial: 2004
Circumstances of Death:
In the early morning of May 31, 1933, Chetopa Police Officer Ottis (Otto) LaDuke Durkee was shot to death by an unknown assailant in an alley near a Chetopa, Kansas tire shop. Officer Durkee's gun was found near his body; all six shots of the revolver had been fired. The murderer was never found. Officer Durkee, a World War I veteran, was 42 years old at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife and two children.

C. LeRoy Damron
Type of Officer: City Marshal
Jurisdiction Bonner Springs
County: Wyandotte
Death Date: 8/23/1922
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death:
While on night rounds, Marshal Damron noticed two suspicious looking men on a street corner. It was later learned that the men were serving as lookouts for an attempted bank robbery at Farmers Bank. As the marshal approached them, they opened fire,fatally shooting Damron. Although he was dying, Damron managed to beat one of the men with his nightstick.

Benjamin J. Davidson
Type of Officer: Deputy Sheriff
Jurisdiction Shawnee County
County: Shawnee
Death Date: 11/28/1933
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death:
Davidson, the county jailor and a deputy sheriff, was on night duty when four men led by Cecil Thornbrugh, escaped from their cell. The men beat the jailor with homemade blackjacks, and in the struggle, Davidson and Thornbrugh fell down the stairs. The escapee managed to acquire Davidson's revolver, and shot him once. Davidson continued his pursuit, and Thornbrugh fired two more times, hitting Davidson. The deputy continued to struggle with his assailant. Davidson finally ended up on top of Thornbrugh and died in that position, pinning Thornbrugh to the floor and preventing his escape.

Elmer F. Davis
Type of Officer: Sheriff
Jurisdiction Dickinson County
County: Dickinson
Death Date: 4/24/1949
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death:
Sheriff Elmer Davis and his brother, Undersheriff Milton Davis, answered a disturbance call at the farm of Charles Rush. Rush,who was described as "having gone berserk," had shot and wounded three persons, including two who lived with him and a neighbor. The ensuing sequence of events is unclear, but both officers had fired their weapons and had been killed inside the Rush house. After shooting the sheriffs, Rush set fire to the house and died in the fire.

LeRoy Davis
Type of Officer: Police Officer
Jurisdiction Dodge City
County: Ford
Death Date: 5/18/1929
Added to Memorial: 1988
Circumstances of Death:
Officer LeRoy Davis was shot at close range and killed when he attempted to arrest one Roy Redding for attempting to start several cars in town. Redding stole a car and escaped. He was captured at a farm near Holcomb and confessed to the crime. He was quickly sentenced and approximately 36 hours after the killing was sentenced to Lansing.

Milton L. Davis
Type of Officer: Undersheriff
Jurisdiction Dickinson County
County: Dickinson
Death Date: 4/24/1949
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death:
Undersheriff Milton Davis and his brother, Sheriff Elmer Davis, answered a disturbance call at the farm of Charles Rush. Rush,who was described as "having gone berserk," had shot and wounded three persons, including two who lived with him and a neighbor. The ensuing sequence of events is unclear, but both officers had fired their weapons and had been killed inside the Rush house. After shooting the sheriffs, Rush set fire to the house and died in the fire.

Walter Davis
Type of Officer: Sheriff
Jurisdiction Lyon County
County: Lyon
Death Date: 8/16/1916
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death:
After two men reported to the police that they had been robbed, a policemen observed the two suspects and informed Sheriff Davis. The sheriff, the policeman, and another man detained the suspects and, as Davis finished searching one of them, he was shot and killed. One of the men with the sheriff was also wounded, and three posse members were also wounded during a subsequent gun battle with the suspects.

R. A. Dickerson
Type of Officer: Police Officer
Jurisdiction Atchison
County: Atchison
Death Date: 10/23/1899
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death:
Officer Dickerson, of the Atchison Police Department, was sent to assist officers in the town of Doniphan, in Doniphan County,after a store robbery. He served as part of the posse that pursued the suspects first to an abandoned house from which they escaped, and then to the river where they barricaded themselves behind logs and brush. The posse remained near the river the entire night. When morning came, Dickerson was one of the officers that stormed the suspect's hiding place, and he was killed in the process. The posse kept the suspects pinned down into another night, but under the cover of darkness they eluded the posse and were never caught.

Albert J. DuFriend
Type of Officer: Chief of Police
Jurisdiction Newton
County: Harvey
Death Date: 11/22/1928
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death:
Chief DuFriend and Officer Paul Dutton were responding to a store robbery. While en route, DuFriend suffered a hemorrhage of the lungs, which was evidently caused by his excitement and his asthma. He died within a few minutes of being stricken.

Samuel W. Dunn
Type of Officer: Sheriff
Jurisdiction Seward County
County: Seward
Death Date: 1/5/1892
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death:
During a complicated political situation in Seward County involving a political faction, loyal to the late Samuel Wood, and the Stevens County seat war, Sheriff Dunn learned of a plot to assassinate Judge Theodosius Botkin. Botkin, the judge trying the case of Wood's murderer, had raised the ire of the alliance that had followed Wood. They evidently feared that Botkin would not follow through on the case or prosecute it to their liking. The scheme was to kill Judge Botkin as he rode in open country on his way to Springfield for court. The sheriff stayed at Botkins' house the night before, with five deputies, and replaced the judge the next morning on the ride. He and the deputies were ambushed, and in the ensuing gun battle, the sheriff was killed. The political climate in Seward County became so unruly that the state militia was called in to enforce order.