Nation's police heroes honoured

Sergeant Don Wilkinson was shot dead during a mission in South Auckland last year. Photo / Richard Robinson

The 29 New Zealand police officers killed in the line of duty will be remembered today at the annual Australasian and South Pacific Police Remembrance Day.

Among those to be remembered are Senior Constable Len Snee, killed by Napier gunman Jan Molenaar in May, and Sergeant Don Wilkinson, shot dead with a high-powered air rifle during a police mission to plant a tracking device on a car in South Auckland last September.

A plaque was dedicated to Mr Wilkinson in November.

Today's service will also remember all members of the police, both serving and retired, who had died in the past year.

Police Remembrance Day falls on September 29, the feast day of the Archangel Michael, the patron saint of police.

The service will start at 11am at the Royal New Zealand Police College in Porirua.

Other deaths on police duty:

JULY 30, 1890

Dargaville police constable Neil McLeod, 44, died instantly after being shot in the chest by Henry Funcke. In a fit of rage after being removed from a passenger steamer, Funcke pulled out a pistol and fired at the departing ship, hitting Mr McLeod.

APRIL 14, 1910

Sergeant John Patrick Hackett McGuire, 42, died from gunshot wounds three days after he was shot in the stomach during a manhunt for escaped prisoner John Joseph Pawelka.

FEBRUARY 5, 1913

Constable John Doyle, 35, died in hospital four days after being violently assaulted during a scuffle with two men in the Albany Hotel, Shannon.

OCTOBER 6, 1919

Constable Vivian Dudding, 32, was shot in the head when he attended a domestic dispute in Thorndon, Wellington. He died in hospital an hour later.

AUGUST 27, 1921

Constable James Dorgan, 37, was shot by an unidentified gunman when he investigated a break-in at Timaru. The killer was never found.

OCTOBER 21, 1934

Constable Thomas Heeps, 50, died in Waikato Hospital after he was shot twice near Otorohanga by Henare Hona, who was being hunted after shooting dead four people.

OCTOBER 8, 1941

Sergeant William Cooper, 43, Constable Frederick William Jordan, 26, Constable Percy Campbell Tulloch, 35, and Constable Edward Mark Best, 42, all became victims of Stanley Graham, the West Coast farmer who shot several people after refusing to hand over his firearms. By the end of the largest manhunt in New Zealand history, seven people, including Graham, had died. Another of his victims died 17 months later from gunshot wounds.

JANUARY 31, 1949

Traffic Officer John Kehoe, 24, was shot several times by Richard Angus McGill in Whakatane. He died soon after.

MAY 27, 1951

Sergeant William Shore Hughes, 48, was shot dead during a domestic dispute at Otaki by Noema Raana Rika.

JANUARY 6, 1963

Detective Sergeant Neville Wilson Power, 25, and Detective Inspector Wallace Chalmers, 46, were shot by Victor George Wasmuth when they attended a shooting in West Auckland. Wasmuth also shot dead a neighbour and wounded another man.

FEBRUARY 3, 1963

Constable James Thomas Richardson, 24, and Constable Bryan Leslie Schultz, 21, died instantly when they were shot as they sat in their police car after answering a call to a domestic dispute in Lower Hutt.

AUGUST 15, 1966

Constable Donald Richard Stokes, 23, died in Dunedin Hospital after being beaten by escaping prisoners in the Dunedin police station cells.

FEBRUARY 4, 1970

Sergeant Gilbert Peter Arcus, 44, died in Tauranga Hospital from head injuries after falling off a chair as he tried to placate a mentally disturbed woman through the window of a locked room.

SEPTEMBER 25, 1976

Constable Peter William Murphy, 21, was shot when he attended a break-in at an Invercargill sports shop.

JUNE 13, 1977

Traffic Officer Barry Yorston Gibson, 32, was assaulted by a motorist and died of head injuries in Taranaki Base Hospital.

APRIL 7, 1986

Traffic Officer Robin James Dudding, 44, was shot dead after he was taken hostage by Ross Kameta. Mr Dudding was posthumously awarded the George Medal for bravery.

MAY 27, 1990

Senior Constable Peter Morris Umbers, 35, was bashed with his own baton when he stopped Richard Thomas Lakich near Ranfurly, Central Otago. Mr Umbers was posthumously awarded the George Medal.

NOVEMBER 13, 1990

Sergeant Stewart Graeme Guthrie, 41, died at Aramoana when he was shot by gunman David Malcolm Gray who shot dead 12 other people. Mr Guthrie was posthumously awarded the George Medal.

APRIL 21, 1996

Constable Glenn Arthur McKibbin, 25, was shot as he stood beside his police patrol car in the Hastings suburb of Flaxmere. He died on the way to hospital. Former soldier Terence Thompson was later found in a Havelock North orchard and shot dead by police.

MAY 27, 1999

Constable Lester Murray Stretch, 38, was bashed to death in the small South Waikato town of Mangakino by Carlos Namana.

JULY 5, 2002

Detective Constable Duncan Taylor of Feilding was shot by a teenager during a standoff at a Rongotea farmhouse.

JULY 11, 2008

Sergeant Derek Wootton, 52, of Porirua died after he was hit by a car as he laid road spikes to stop a stolen car.

- NZPA