Charles to attend Staffordshire police memorial dedication
- Published
Police officers and staff who died on duty will be commemorated in a permanent tribute being unveiled at the National Memorial Arboretum later.
The Prince of Wales is among those attending a dedication ceremony at the new monument and garden created for the Staffordshire site.
The UK Police Memorial is the result of a six-year fundraising campaign.
The widow of an officer who died serving the public said the site honoured "courageous sacrifice".
The Police Arboretum Memorial Trust said since an early incarnation of professional police in 1749, almost 5,000 officers and staff had died on duty - 1,500 from acts of violence.
The trust was set up in 2014 to raise funds for the new memorial which is larger than the existing national tribute in central London.
Organisers say the National Memorial Arboretum offers the commemoration of police workers at "the UK's year-round centre of remembrance".
The fathers of police officers Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes, officers who were murdered in a gun and grenade attack, officially marked the start of work last year.
The monument component has been designed by Walter Jack, and the surrounding landscape that makes up the rest of the memorial designed by Charlotte Rathbone.
Visiting ahead of Wednesday's ceremony were 10-year-old Harvey, five-year-old Riley, and seven-year-old Reggie. Their grandfather, Mac Walker, a West Midlands Police traffic officer, was killed in 2001 after being deliberately rammed off his bike in Birmingham by a man driving a stolen car.
Mr Walker's widow, Helen Walker, said: "The memorial is in a lovely location at the arboretum; a beautiful, peaceful place where people can go and reflect on the life of loved ones they've lost.
"It's a place where children, grandchildren and future generations can come and honour their heroes and the courageous sacrifice the fallen officers have made to protect the public."
The memorial will complement an existing digital memorial to police workers who have died while on duty.
Sir Hugh Orde, chair of trustees of the UK Police Memorial, said: "As a nation, we owe all those who have laid down their lives to keep us safe and protect us from harm a huge debt of gratitude.
"This memorial will ensure that the memory of those officers and staff who have died lives on in perpetuity."
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