Trooper Joseph G. Gallivan

End of Watch: June 22, 1937

Age: 26

Years of Service: 2

Badge #: 85

Cause of Death: Automobile Accident

National Memorial Panel: 5-E: 13

Trooper Joseph G. Gallivan

Trooper Joseph Gallivan was killed in an automobile accident while responding to a fire.

Trooper Gallivan and Trooper Lynwood Hart were en route to a fire alarm in Hopkinton when their cruiser, a 1936 Ford Cabriolet, which Gallivan was driving, skidded on Nooseneck Hill Road, knocking over an iron rail fence, then striking a concrete marker. It had been raining very hard and visibility was poor. The accident occurred on the Richmond/Hopkinton town line. Gallivan died a couple hours after the accident as a result of the injuries he sustained. Trooper Gallivan was the first member of the Department of the State Police to lose his life in an automobile accident since its inception in 1925.

Trooper Gallivan gave his life while in the performance of his duty and died upholding the highest traditions of the Rhode Island State Police and "In the Service of the State." He was the fourth member of the Rhode Island State Police to die in the line of duty.