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Cory A. Ricks
Type of Officer: Detention Officer
Jurisdiciton: Seward County
County: Seward
Death Date: 1/13/2006
Added to Memorial: 2006
Circumstances of Death:
Detention Officer Cory A. Ricks was killed in a traffic accident on January 13, 2006 while transporting a juvenile prisoner from the Finney County Detention Center in Garden City to court in Liberal. Officer Ricks, who had been with the Seward County Sheriff’s Office for seven years, was one of 18 detention officers who regularly transported prisoners as part of their duties. The vehicle being driven by Officer Ricks struck a gravel truck that had stopped in the highway, waiting to make a turn off of US 83 in Haskell county. Officer Ricks and his prisoner, Arielle Martinez-Eikenberry were both killed in the crash. Officer Ricks was 33 years old at the time of his death. He is survived by his wife Amy, son Jacob, Daughters Mara and Sylvia, four sisters and his parents.
 

Alexander Ramsey
Type of Officer: Sheriff
Jurisdiction: Ellis County
County: Ellis
Death Date: 6/7/1875
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death:
Ellis County Sheriff Ramsey, noted for his effectiveness as an officer, was traveling to Stockton in Rooks County, with Deputy Sheriff Frank Shepherd, to recover stolen property. As they traveled they noticed a fresh horse trail. Aware that one of the West's most wanted men and horse thieves, Henry "Dutch Henry" Born(e) was operating in the area, they decided to follow the trail. Entering Stockton, they observed two men selling horses. As the sheriff and deputy approached, one of the men, named Deems, fired. Ramsey was mortally wounded by was able to shoot and kill Deems. The other man, William Stanley, escaped but had been wounded by the deputy sheriff. Stanley was later captured near Kirwin. It was discovered that the horses had been stolen from Indians, and therefore "technically" the two were not guilty of any crime. Stanley was later tried for assaulting a police officer and found not guilty.

Will C. Reed
Type of Officer: Railroad Special Agent
Jurisdiction: Wichita
County: Sedgwick
Death Date: 7/4/1920
Added to Memorial: 2002
Circumstances of Death:
At 3:00 a.m. on July 4, 1920, Rock Island Railroad Special Agent Will C. Reed and his partner B. B. Collins received word that three men had broken into a freight car at Elbing, Kansas, stolen some cigarettes, and illegally boarded a freight train bound for Wichita. Agents Reed and Collins met the train when it arrived at the Wichita yards but did not immediately find the suspects. Agents Reed and Collins patrolled the railroad tracks in search of the men and soon saw the suspects emerge from a hiding place in the weeds. As the agents approached the men, one of the suspects pulled out a revolver and shot Agent Reed, killing him instantly. Agent Collins, unharmed, returned fire as the suspects fled across a field. The three men were found and arrested a few hours later. Special Agent Reed was forty-two years old at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife and two children.

James L. Reynolds
Type of Officer: Deputy Sheriff
Jurisdiction: Wyandotte County
County: Wyandotte
Death Date: 8/4/1984
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death:
Deputy Sheriff Reynolds, a member of the motorcycle division, was assisting in the pursuit of a fleeing traffic offender. He lost control of his cycle and in the accident he received massive internal injuries. Normally a full-time booking officer, Reynolds had voluntarily worked with officers on the motorcycle unit.

William H. Rich
Type of Officer: Police Office
Jurisdiction: Pratt
County: Pratt
Death Date: 6/21/1929
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death:
Around 1:00 a.m., as Officer Rich was painting a "No U Turn" sign on a street, he was struck by a car and killed. In the darkness, the driver of the car had been unable to see Rich.

Forrest E. Richards
Type of Officer: Undersheriff
Jurisdiction: Butler County
County: Butler
Death Date: 9/23/1962
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death:
Undersheriff Richards had returned to duty directing the Augusta office of the sheriff's department after recuperating from a heart attack suffered on April 18. On September 23, he stopped a driver for drunk driving. After placing the suspect under arrest, Richards left the man in order to move the driver's car from the road. As he did, the suspect fled. Richards fired a shot over the fleeing man's head, radioed for assistance, and began a foot chase. He ran about one hundred feet, collapsed and died from a heart attack.

G. Milton Rickman
Type of Officer: Undersheriff
Jurisdiction: Coffey County
County: Coffey
Death Date: 5/6/1930
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death:
An armed and suspicious acting man was observed boarding a train without a ticket. Undersheriff Rickman ordered him off the train and to surrender the gun he was carrying. The suspect, Clarence Hays, fatally shot Rickman and wounded City Marshal George Griffith. Hays, wanted for escape from General Hospital in Kansas City, had robbed two cab drivers and had forced one to transport him to Burlington. Following Rickman's death, Hays was located and killed by a posse.

James E. Roberts
Type of Officer: Deputy Sheriff
Jurisdiction: Dunlap
County: Morris
Death Date: 5/12/1900ZZZ
Added to Memorial: 2003
Circumstances of Death:
On the evening of May 12, 1900, James Edward Roberts and another deputized Dunlap, Kansas citizen stationed themselves on the railroad bridge north of town in an attempt to capture two prisoners who had escaped from the Marysville prison. As Mr. Roberts looked over the edge of the bridge one of the escaped prisoners, wielding a shotgun from beneath the bridge, shot and killed Mr. Roberts. The fugitives fled the scene of the shooting but were captured two days later near Hartford. Mr. Roberts left a wife and several children.

Frank Rohrbach
Type of Officer: Deputy Sheriff
Jurisdiction: Wyandotte County
County: Wyandotte
Death Date: 8/6/1931
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death:
Deputy Rohrbach received a citizen call at home to investigate two men who were observed with guns in their car. The deputy,
in uniform, investigated and removed three guns from the car and one from a suspect. As he continued the search, the other suspect drew a weapon and fatally shot Rohrbach. It was nearly five years before the two suspects were apprehended.

Deanna Hummel Rose
Type of Officer: Police Officer
Jurisdiction: Overland Park
County: Johnson
Death Date: 1/26/1985
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death:
On January 24, 1985, Officer Hummel-Rose had stopped a vehicle and was attempting to arrest the driver on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. She was fatally injured when the suspect driver knocked her to the ground and then intentionally struck her with the vehicle. She died two days later from the injuries. Hummel-Rose was the first woman officer to be killed in the line of duty in Kansas, and the only city officer to be killed in Overland Park. Prior to working for the Overland Park Police Department, she had graduated from Wichita State University in Criminal Justice, and had been a member of the San Diego, California County Sheriff's office.

Marion Ross
Type of Officer: Police Officer
Jurisdiction: Manhattan
County: Riley
Death Date: 3/10/1918
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death:
Ross, on patrol in Aggieville, the campus town near Kansas State University in Manhattan, approached a drunk in the city park. When the officer tried to awaken him, the drunk's wife told Ross to stop. Milton Moorehead, a foreman of the laundry at Camp Funston, was with the drunk and his wife and came to their assistance. Moorehead fought with Ross, beating him severely. Ross was dead on arrival at the hospital.