Essex celebrates 50 years of memories at Memorial Day

NATIONAL Police Memorial Day spans 50 years of memories for Essex Police, its Federation Secretary Phil Suarez has said.

He was speaking as representatives from police forces across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland gathered at St Paul’s Cathedral in London for National Police Memorial Day.

Officers and family members were joined at the service by Prince Charles, who is patron of the event, and Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

Phil said: “We’re here to remember fallen colleagues, and I think it’s really, really lovely that that goes all the way back to 1952 with one of our families and Mrs Dodd. Unfortunately she can’t be here today because she’s not very well, she’s now getting really quite elderly.

“We’ve also got a family of PC Ian Dibell here, which is obviously a much more recent tragedy that Essex Police suffered. So we really do span 50 years of memories and this is a really special day when we can come together and celebrate and remember those people that we lost in the line of service.

“I think the families really appreciate the time and effort everybody puts into this event, what goes on behind the scenes. And what better venue could you have than St Paul’s Cathedral?”

Essex’s Chief Constable Steve Kavanagh said the event was the most important day in the policing calendar and was an opportunity for the service to remind families that their loved ones will not be forgotten.

He said: “I’m here because this is probably the most important day in the policing calendar. Every year we see more tragedies, more aggressions towards the police.

“For some reason we don’t see the support in the media that we would hope to see, so this is about coming together with the families who have lost loved ones and saying we won’t forget them, we respect their sacrifice and we’ll continue to go on in their name.

“We have families going back to the 1980s who have lost loved ones to road accidents, to accidents where they’ve lost their lives and of course the shootings of Bill Bishop and Ian Dibell. It is bringing people together to say those sacrifices were not in vain.

“Policing relies on that type of commitment, is vital to the future of British policing. We are so stretched now, it’s more important than ever.

“I love the way that we rotate through Scotland, Wales and England, and to come to St Paul’s on a lovely Autumnal day, it’s moving. And we must keep this going ad infinitum.”