Fallen and deceased officers honoured
Fallen and deceased officers honoured at Police Remembrance Day services
Police staff and members of the Police
family will gather on Friday to mark Police Remembrance
Day.
Police Remembrance Day is held every year on 29 September, the feast day of the Archangel Michael, the Patron Saint of Police.
It honours Police staff who have been slain or died as a result of their duties as well serving, retired and former Police staff who have passed away in the preceding 12 months.
Services this year will be held around the country, including a national service at the Royal New Zealand Police College.
Thirty-two Police officers and officers of the former Ministry of Transport Traffic Safety Service, which merged with Police in 1992, have died as a result of criminal acts since New Zealand Police was established in 1886.
A further 48 constabulary and non-constabulary staff members have died as a direct result of performing their duties.
Eight of these, all members of the Traffic Safety Service, will be formally recognised for the first time this year (see below).
They were identified through Police’s ongoing Recognition Project, which was initiated to ensure that all Police staff who have died in the service of their communities are appropriately acknowledged.
Commissioner Mike Bush, who will attend the national ceremony at the RNZPC, says Remembrance Day is the most poignant day in the Police calendar.
“It’s a time for all of us, not just Police, to reflect on the bravery and sacrifice of those who have been slain on duty, as well as the contribution of those who have died as a direct result of their efforts to keep their communities safe.
“In 32 cases, these deaths were the result of criminal acts, and in another 48, they were caused by crashes, accidents, drownings while attempting to save lives and illnesses contracted while carrying out their Police duties.
“Whatever the reason, it’s important that we identify all these staff and ensure they are properly honoured and remembered, not just by us, but by the communities they served.”
The eight Traffic Safety Service staff identified by the Recognition Project this year are:
Main Highways Board Inspector Thomas Arthur
Allcock, 25, stationed in Rotorua.
He died on 24 December
1938 after he was struck by a truck while trying to pull
over another vehicle;
Transport Department Inspector
Edmund Lawrence Fox, 34, stationed in Gore.
He died on 6
December 1954 in a head-on collision with a truck that
crossed the centre-line near Waikaia;
Transport Department
Inspector George Henry Jenner, 58, stationed in
Christchurch.
He died on 15 May 1955 in a collision with
a truck while supervising a drivers’ licence
test;
Traffic Officer Richard Henry Cecil Dench, 31,
stationed in Christchurch.
He died on 23 November 1970
when he lost control of his motorcycle during pursuit
training on the road between Paremata and Pauatahanui,
Porirua;
Traffic Officer Martin Ross Miller, 21, stationed
at Wellington.
He died on 14 March 1973 when his patrol
motorcycle and a truck collided on the Johnsonville-Porirua
motorway;
Traffic Officer George Nelson, 23, stationed in
Wellington.
He died on 25 October 1975 when a sports car
pulled into his path, throwing him from his motorcycle and
causing a severe head injury;
Traffic Officer Robert Clive
Bell, 21, stationed in Wellington.
He was responding to a
vehicle crash on his patrol motorcycle, with the red light
flashing, on 12 February 1978, when he crashed into a car
that pulled into his path;
Traffic Officer Steven Alan
Perry, 22, stationed at Lower Hutt.
His patrol motorcycle
collided with another vehicle on the corner of Nelson Street
and the Esplanade, Petone, and he died of his injuries in
Wellington Hospital on 4 April 1983.
As well as services in New Zealand, Police Remembrance Day will be observed across Australia and the Pacific.
ENDS