Chief Engineer Joseph Edward Keene
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On this day in Baltimore Police History 1938, we lost our brother Chief Engineer Joseph Edward Keene to a work-related illness based on the following:
On October 24, 1938, at approximately 8:10 a.m. Chief Engineer Joseph Keene was having engine trouble on a departmental boat. This trouble forced Chief Keene to work the engine while out in Baltimore Harbor (the harbor was nothing like it is today). While working in the cabin on the boat's engine, unbeknownst to Chief Keene, the engine had two small holes in the muffler of the engine with carbon monoxide escaping into the cab. He was at the foot of Wells Street on Philpot, and while working on a boat engine, he became sick and dizzy. They managed to get the boat ashore, and the Chief was taken to a hospital for treatment and to his home, where he died on November 1, 1938. It was determined that Mr. Keene died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. Mrs. Anna Keene was awarded a full police pension by Commissioner Robert F. Stanton.
As his brothers and sisters of the Baltimore Police Department, we will not let him be forgotten. His service honored the City of Baltimore and the Baltimore Police Department. May he rest in peace, and may God bless him.