Police Remembrance Day will be marked across New Zealand on September 29, with Police and their families pausing to remember colleagues who have died in the course of their service.

NZ Police Association president Steve Watt says the annual commemoration is an important opportunity to remember the people behind the uniform – and the families and colleagues left behind.

“Remembrance Day gives us a chance to pause and remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in serving their communities,” Steve says.

“It is also a reminder that policing can carry very real risks. Every day, our people put themselves in situations that most of us would never have to face, because that is what serving and protecting our communities requires.

“For the families and colleagues of those who have died, remembrance can be particularly poignant. Their loss doesn’t go away, and it is important that we continue to stand alongside them and honour the contribution their loved ones made.”

The name of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming is the most recent addition to the Wall of Remembrance at the Royal New Zealand Police College. Lyn was killed on January 1, 2025, when a vehicle was driven at speed into her and other officers in Nelson.

She joins 33 other New Zealand Police members whose deaths since 1890 resulted from criminal acts while carrying out their duties. Lyn is the only woman on the Memorial Wall and the only officer from Nelson to have been killed as a result of a criminal act while on duty.

Lyn and those who went before her will be remembered at the official service at the Police College in Porirua on Tuesday, September 29 – the feast day of St Michael the Archangel, patron saint of police.

Remembrance Day will also be marked at Police locations around the country.

The service includes the calling of the Roll of Honour, a traditional salute, the laying of wreaths at the Wall of Remembrance and a haka. Police officers who have died as a result of carrying out their duties since 1886 will also be acknowledged, along with serving and retired Police employees – sworn and non-sworn – who have died during the past year.

“Each name represents a person who went to work to serve their community and never came home,” Steve says. “We owe it to them, and to their families, to make sure they are never forgotten.”
 

Never forgotten

Ten officers whose deaths fall on significant anniversaries this year will also be remembered – including four who were shot in the same incident at Koiterangi in 1941:

Senior Sergeant Lynley Gay Fleming, January 1, 2025 – struck by a vehicle and fatally injured while on foot patrol in central Nelson.

Constable Glenn Arthur McKibbin, April 21, 1996 – shot during a routine traffic stop in Flaxmere and died on the way to hospital.

Traffic Officer Robin Jamieson Dudding, GM, April 7, 1986 – kidnapped at Lake Rotoiti and later shot dead.

Constable Donald Richard Stokes, August 15, 1966 – injured in the cells at Dunedin Central Police Station and later died in hospital.

Sergeant William Shore Hughes, May 27, 1951 – shot dead while attending an armed incident.

Constable Frederick William Jordan, Constable Percy Campbell Tulloch and Sergeant William Cooper, October 8, 1941 – shot dead at Koiterangi while attempting to seize firearms. Constable Edward Mark Best was also shot in the incident and died in Westland Hospital three days later, on October 11.

Constable James Dorgan, August 27, 1921 – the fifth name recorded on the Memorial Wall. He was shot and killed while attending a shop burglary.