On the eve of Remembrance Day, Police staff gathered with relatives of three slain officers to honour them at the Memorial Wall at the Royal New Zealand Police College.
In a sometimes emotional ceremony, family members unveiled plaques honouring Constables James Butler and Louis Hekenui Bidois and Detective Constable Ronald Hill, whose names have been added to the roll of officers killed by a criminal act while performing their duty.
Commissioner Mike Bush – who laid a wreath in the men’s memory – told family members: “I thank you for allowing us to put right our unintentional oversight and ensure that these officers are properly honoured, because they made the ultimate sacrifice as they went about their duties to keep their communities safe.”
The men were identified by Police’s ongoing Recognition Project, which was set up three years ago to ensure staff who gave their lives in the course of their work were properly recognised.
Commissioner Bush described the project, led by New Zealand Police Museum Director Rowan Carroll, as “a painstaking and comprehensive programme of work”.
Last year the project led to recognition at Remembrance Day of 38 staff members who died through accident or illness arising from their work between 1887 and 2011.
At the national Remembrance Day ceremony today, the names of Constables Butler and Bidois and Detective Constable Hill were read for the first time alongside the 29 officers previously acknowledged as having been killed as a result of a criminal act while on duty.
Two more staff members who died in accidents - Constables Cecil Orr and Peter Hart - were also recognised for the first time today.
Individual plaques recognising the three Traffic Officers killed in the line of duty - John Kehoe, Barry Gibson and Robin Dudding – have also been added to the Memorial Wall, where previously they were on a joint plaque to one side.
Police Remembrance Day is marked on 29 September throughout Australasia.
A copy of the Police Remembrance Day booklet can be found at www.police.govt.nz/remembranceday
Constable Louis Hekenui (Heke) Bidois, Te Whaiti
Died 24/05/1955, aged 56
Constable Bidois was attempting to arrest two drunk and disorderly men who were fighting outside a dance at Te Whaiti, Bay of Plenty, on 07/05/1949. They struck him over the head with a bottle, causing a severe brain injury. The offenders were convicted of obstructing police, casting offensive matter and assaulting police. Constable Bidois never recovered and eventually died from his injuries.
Constable James Butler, Dunedin
Died 02/01/1938, aged 29
Constable Butler was assaulted by a drunk, violent and abusive offender as he tried to take him to the cells at Dunedin Police Station on Christmas Day 1937. He died in Dunedin Public Hospital eight days later after a blood clot moved to his lungs. He was buried alongside his father, also a police officer, at Waipukurau Cemetery.
Detective Constable Ronald Bernard (Bernie) Hill, Palmerston North Died 25/05/1969, aged 22After questioning a witness to a burglary, Detective Constables Hill and Daysh were driving her back to Shannon when their patrol car was struck by an oncoming vehicle. Detective Constable Daysh and the witness survived but Detective Constable Hill died instantly. The offending car was not warranted or registered and was driven by an unlicensed and intoxicated youth who also died at the scene.