New police digital memorial goes live

THE NAMES of over 4,200 police officers and police staff who have died on duty since the introduction of the Bow Street Runners in 1749 will be commemorated on a new digital memorial launched today (12^th November) by the Police Arboretum Memorial Trust, in partnership with Twitter UK.

The new memorial is part of the Trust’s plans to honour the sacrifice of those from our Police service who have lost their lives. This will culminate in the building of the new UK Police Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire by 2021.

Sir Hugh Orde, Chair of Trustees said:  “When we set out on this ambitious project in 2015, the Trust not only wanted to create a physical memorial, but also wanted to create a memorial fit for the modern age. A memorial that was not only accessible to the 300,000 visitors a year who visit the Arboretum, but a memorial that is accessible to a global audience.”

Daily the Trust will publish the names and photographs of those police officers and staff who have lost their lives on that particular day with a short citation. The on this day section has been created with the support of the Police Roll of Honour Trust who have supplied the data and information.

Enhanced tributes that tell the personal stories of those behind the badge have also been produced. In a unique partnership with Liverpool John Moores University media studies course the Trust have worked with students to produce tributes that honour individual officers including interviews with their families and friends, inclusion of news archive footage and commentary.

Sir Hugh added: “Our aim was to demonstrate to the public that when a police officer dies they are not just someone in uniform, but that that they are a husband, wife, father, mother, son or daughter.”

You can view the new Police Digital Memorial by visiting https://digital.ukpolicememorial.org and follow the online tributes through Twitter @ukpmemorial and comment using the hashtag #couragandsacrifice.

Building of the new UK Police Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire is due to commence early next year with a planned opening to the public in the Spring of 2021.