OUR MP Shailesh Vara today (November 23rd) hosted a reception in the House of Commons for the UK Police Memorial Trust. The event paid tribute to the 4,500 police officers and staff who have lost their lives in the line of duty since the introduction of the Bow Street Runners in 1749, thought to be the world's first recognised police service.
Relatives of fallen officers were presented with an inscrbed leaf cut from the material used to create the Police Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
As a former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Shailesh presented a leaf to Chief Constable Jon Boucher of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) who accepted it on behalf of the family of Constable Stephen Carroll. Stephen was fatally shot in March 2009 while responding to a 999 call near a Catholic church not far from Belfast. He was the first member of the PSNI to be murdered by Paramilitaries since it was established in 2001, replacing the former Royal Ulster Constabulary.
In due course, details of Stephen's story and life of service will be among thousands incorporated into Phase II of the UK Police Memorial Trust project, the development of a digital remembrance programme, a world-first using advances in technology to redefine remembrance.
The programme will bring together physical and digital elements that tell the stories of lives lost to UK policing - and most importantly perhaps, lives lived.
Following the event Shailesh told us it had been a 'privilege and honour' to host this very special occasion. "It was a moving and humbling experience, a timely reminder of those officers who have given their lives in the line of duty, sacrificing themselves to protect us and the communities they serve."
NOTE: To make a donation to the digital remembrance programme, either online or by cheque, please go to https://www.ukpolicememorial.com/donate/
Photo: Shailesh presents an inscribed leaf in memory of PC Stephen Carroll to Chief Constable Jon Boucher and Sir Hugh Orde, former Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland
