The following is a Danville Police Department Release
Danville Police Department regrettably announces the December 9th, 2025, passing of retired Sgt. Fredrick “Rick” Payton. Rick served his country in the U.S. Air Force and then served the community of Danville as a sworn officer in 1976 and retired after 40 years in 2016. Rick was one of the early members of the Emergency Response Unit (commonly referred to as SWAT) and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 1979. Rick worked all three patrol shifts during his career. Rick was also a firearms instructor and range officer and a member of the DPD Softball Team.
Rick had a calm demeanor as a police officer but was passionate about sports, especially golf. Many of us would complain when we golfed with Rick because he was a stickler for playing by the rules. Our scores would suffer and he was quick to call out “Foul!” if we used the foot wedge for a better lie in the rough. When golfing with Rick, us bogey golfers became double or triple-bogey golfers. There were no “gimmies” or Mulligans when playing with Rick.
What stood out to me regarding Rick was that his family came first. Rick often spoke about his two sons and his wife, Toni. Toni was always the friendly face who went out of her way at family events to make other spouses feel welcome to the DPD family. It was appreciated by all of us new officers. Our thoughts and prayers are with Toni, Brian, and Joe.
