Officer William Mears was killed in a motorcycle accident.

On March 25, 1941 at 11:25 pm, Officer Mears was riding his police motorcycle south on Hampton Avenue when he drove through a wooden barricade which had been placed at a construction site at Hampton and Moran, struck a dirt pile and then another barricade 60 feet away. Officer Mears sustained a broken neck and skull fracture and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Officer Mears had been with the agency for 11 years and was survived by his wife and two daughters.