Patrolman Charles Tilden Crooker

Charles Tilden Crooker

Patrolman Charles Crooker died after contracting the influenza virus while manning a city ambulance during the Influenza Epidemic of 1918. It is believed he contracted the virus while tending to victims at a temporary hospital.

Patrolman Crooker had served with the agency for 19 years.

From 1918 to early 1919, the Spanish flu pandemic infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide—about one-third of the planet’s population—and killed approximately 675,000 Americans. Many officers contracted this virus due to the requirements of their job.