Officer Down Memorial Page - http://www.odmp.org

Officer James Richard Greene | Atlanta Police Department, Georgia
Atlanta Police Department, Georgia

Officer

James Richard Greene

Atlanta Police Department, Georgia

End of Watch: Wednesday, November 3, 1971

Biographical Info

Age: 27
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available

Incident Details

Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: November 3, 1971
Weapon Used: Handgun; .38 caliber
Suspect Info: One killed; other sentenced to life

Officer Jim Greene, working a one-man unit, was assassinated while on patrol.

Officer Greene was taking a break and seated in his police van at a closed gas station when the incident occurred. The suspects, two Black Liberation Army members, approached the unsuspecting officer. While one asked him a question, the other shot him numerous times. They then stole the officer's service weapon and his badge to prove the deed to other members of the group.

One of the suspects was shot and killed in front of a grocery store by officers from the New York City Police Department and the FBI on Nov. 14, 1973.

The other suspect assumed another identity and blended back into society. He was able to avoid arrest for over twenty years. In 2001, while living in New York City with his live-in girlfriend, he was accused of molesting her daughter and arrested. The Atlanta Police Department was notified of his arrest after his true identity was discovered.

Atlanta's cold case detectives obtained enough evidence to charge him in connection with Officer Greene's murder on July 12, 2002. He was convicted of murder on October 13, 2003, and was sentenced to life in prison.

Officer Greene, a U.S. Army veteran, was survived by his parents and several siblings.