New Zealand Police will join police services throughout Australasia and the South Pacific tomorrow to remember staff who have been slain or died on duty and all staff who have died in the past year.
The New Zealand Police Remembrance Service is being held at The Royal New Zealand Police College (RNZPC) on Wednesday 29 September from 11am-12 noon. This date is set aside in church calendars for the Archangel Michael, the Patron Saint of Police.
Seven serving New Zealand Police staff have died during the year. Among them is Senior Constable Phillip (Piripi) Wipatene, 55, who was killed on duty when his highway patrol car collided with another car on Oakura bridge near New Plymouth on 15 July. The other six staff died off duty.
Forty former or retired New Zealand Police staff will also be remembered. They include two former District Commanders, a policeman remembered for his many daring rescues and involvement in the hunt for mass murderer Stanley Graham, one of the first Mâori policewomen, and a former detective and top New Zealand female paraglider.
Additionally, fellow officers who have been slain or died on duty from Australia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and the Solomon Islands will be remembered. Representatives from the High Commissions of Fiji and Papua New Guinea are attending the service.
At the RNZPC there is a national memorial to the 23 New Zealand police officers and three traffic officers who have been slain on duty since the New Zealand Police service was formed in 1886. The most recent addition to the memorial wall was Detective Constable Duncan Taylor, shot while carrying out police duties in Feilding on 5 July 2002.
On 8 October a new memorial is being unveiled at Kowhiterangi (half an hour from Hokitika) dedicated to the victims of West Coast farmer Stanley Graham who murdered four police officers, two home guardsmen and an education department inspector between 8 and 20 October 1941.
To attend the Police Remembrance Service, please RSVP to:
Toni Barlow, Communications Adviser
04 238 3413 / 0274 419 216