William Calvin "Cal" Campbell, Constable

Commerce Police Department

On Friday, April 6, 1934, fugitives Bonnie Parker, Clyde Barrow and Henry Methvin mired their car down on a muddy road near Commerce. A passerby observed guns in the car and notified police. Chief of Police Percy Boyd and Constable Campbell, 61, went to investigate. As the officers approached the stuck car the fugitives began firing at them with Browning Automatic Rifles. Campbell was killed and Boyd wounded. The fugitives kidnapped Boyd and released him the next day in Fort Scott, Kansas. Two sons and five daughters survived Campbell, a widower.

C M Fly, Chief

Commerce Police Department

About 2 A.M. on Sunday, April 27, 1924, Chief Fly led a raid on a dice parlor located in a barber shop on South Commerce Street. When the officers broke the locked door in, it came completely off of its hinges and the officers threw it inside on top of one of the dice tables. As the officers were entering, some of the gamblers picked up the door and threw it back at them. One edge of the door caught the hammer of Officer Troy Leveridge’s .44 caliber pistol, cocking it and releasing it, causing it to fire. The bullet hit Chief Fly, 56, in the left arm, and passed through his chest from side to side, causing a fatal wound. His wife and one adopted daughter survived the chief.

Charles Stricker, Chief

Commerce Police Department

About 10 P.M. on Wednesday October 22, 1919, Chief Stricker was patrolling Main Street when he noticed a car fitting the description of a recently stolen car from Miami coming down the street. Chief Stricker stepped to the street and attempted to halt the car. Instead the car sped up. Chief Stricker fired at the wheels of the car as it passed him. The driver of the car then fired at the Chief, striking him once in the chest near the heart and once in the right leg. Chief Stricker fell to the street and died. Earl Blanchard was later convicted of the Chief’s murder and sentenced to life in prison.