Police heroes remembered

Dozens of current and former Hawke's Bay police officers, and some family members, took part in a service in Napier yesterday to commemorate officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

The service, part of commemorations throughout the country, was held at the Napier RSA, and included the reading of a list by retired first police Eastern District head Superintendent Pat Moore and retired long-serving Havelock North policeman Senior Constable Ron Thorne, while Inspector Andy Sloan commemorated officers who had passed away in the last year.

It was a sombre time for officers who served with Taradale officer Senior Constable Len Snee, who was fatally shot in Napier in May 2009, and others who had worked with other officers killed over the years, including Constable Glenn McKibbin, shot in Flaxmere in 1996.

To a gathering that included Mr Snee's wife, Vicki, police district operations manager Inspector Mike O'Leary also commemorated other officers killed in the South Pacific in the last year, including a New South Wales officer and four Papua New Guinean policemen.

The biggest commemoration was at the Royal New Zealand Police College near Porirua, attended by Police Minister and former Napier City Council member Anne Tolley, who paid homage to 29 New Zealand police officers who have died in the line of duty.