Homer Riggle
Agency: Kansas City Police Department, MO
Homer Riggle was born in 1876 in Pennsylvania. Officer Riggle, 37, became a policeman in 1909 and served as a motorcycle officer at the time of his death.
On February 28, 1913, Officer Homer Riggle answered a call that the saloon at 19th Street and Brooklyn Avenue was being robbed. He found and arrested the two robbers on 19th Street, and was within 150 feet of the Flora Avenue police station when the two men attacked him. A witness reported that one of the men jumped on his back, and grabbed his gun. The men then separated and both shot at Riggle, wounding him fatally. The sound of the gunfire brought out policemen from the nearby station, as well as residents of the area. The group - numbering approximately 100 - chased the two robbers for five miles across Kansas City, tracking them by their footsteps in new snow. The crowd eventually lost them when they ran into an area that was covered in many footprints. Officer Riggle was pronounced dead at General Hospital.
His funeral service was held at 1217 E. 61st Street where Officer Riggle made his home. Officer Riggle’s sacrifice is still being honored by Law Enforcement today. In 2019, KCPD recruits from the 164th entrant class ran from 12th and Broadway to police headquarters where they paid homage to fallen officer Homer Riggle. Chief Rick Smith addressed the recruits as they did push ups in front of the police memorial. The recruits then continued their run to 19th and The Paseo near the site where officer Riggle was killed in the line of duty.
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