Objects and Aims

CHARITY OBJECTS, BENEFITS AND AIMS

Objects

The Trust is established for the following charitable objects:

1. To foster good citizenship for the benefit of the public at large by the construction and maintenance of a Roll of Honour in remembrance of every police officer killed in the line of duty.

2. To advance the education of the public, and in particular the police, in the history of officers killed in the line of duty and officer safety by the maintenance of a comprehensive archive of information available to the public.

3. To relieve the need, in particular the emotional suffering, of bereaved families and friends of police officers who die or have died as a result of an injury received in the line of duty, by the provision of resources and services including care and support, advice and information.

Benefits

The following public, educational and welfare benefits will result from the charity objects:-

1. To foster good citizenship for the benefit of the public at large by the construction and maintenance of a Roll of Honour in remembrance of every police officer killed in the line of duty.

The Roll of Honour pays a public tribute to all the police officers of the United Kingdom who have lost their lives in the line of duty since the earliest days of professional law enforcement. The Roll includes officers killed by accident or enemy action as well as by criminal acts and we will ensure future losses are also recorded.

Publishing the officers' names and details, as a means of remembering, commemorates their sacrifice in the public service. It provides a focal point and visible means for family and friends to reflect on the loss of their loved ones and to know that their sacrifice was not in vain and their loss is not forgotten.

There will be in the region of 4,000 names on the Roll up to the present millennium and some 1,600 of these have died within the last 60 years, potentially leaving many thousands of living relatives and descendants who will directly benefit in this way.

By bringing their service and sacrifice to the public attention, the community in general will benefit by knowing their police officers are prepared to take the special risks of police duty to keep them safe. Sometimes the police officer's dedication to duty means they have to pay the ultimate price; the public can be reassured that when this sacrifice is made the officers and their families will not be forgotten.

This will be of benefit to both the public and the police service in enhancing police and community relations by promoting public understanding and support for the police and raising the status of the police officer in the community.

Records will encompass all line of duty deaths since the earliest days of professional law enforcement over three centuries ago. By documenting and preserving this little known area of police history, the public and police service will benefit by having for the first time an accessible and authoritative archive of the subject.

This will be of use to police and family historians, individual police forces, the media and others who may wish to use it for study, research or analysis purposes. Increased knowledge and understanding of how police fatalities occur will help promote officer safety and lead to a decrease in their numbers.

All enquiries will be answered and appropriate information passed on.

Research has shown that in the 60 years between 1940 and 2000 more than 1,600 officers have lost their lives in the line of duty in the UK, leaving many thousands of living relatives and descendants who will potentially benefit. Our experience with relatives bereaved as long ago as 80 years is that the distress and trauma of a sudden violent death can last a lifetime if not dealt with on a personal emotional level.

We will provide the object's resources and services through our 'Police Family' membership - with the help of our trustees, who have many years of police experience including dealing with bereaved families, and through volunteers nationwide, in particular surviving relatives of other officers killed on duty. This will be done personally or by providing access to other associated charities and support agencies; through them we can provide, or arrange provision of, care and support by giving access to someone who has experienced a similar loss and truly understands how it feels.

Support will also be available to friends of the deceased, who may include long-term partners and colleagues with whom the deceased had a close emotional relationship.

We will provide advice and information on line of duty deaths and related issues through the provision of regular newsletters and individual citations relating to the loss of their relatives. We will offer Police Family membership of the Trust to the bereaved families in order to maintain regular contact. In cases of financial need we may provide financial assistance with expenses of relatives to attend relevant memorial sites, remembrance services or other meetings or events related to the objects.

All the above will be provided free of any charge to the beneficiaries who may contact us at any time for any reason.

Aims

These objects will be carried out by the completion of the following, where resources allow, in order to secure the creation of the National Police Officers Roll of Honour and Archive in remembrance of all those police officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty and to support those left behind and to these ends to procure commission of or otherwise acquire the following aims (but not exclusive of any other related aims):

to compile a permanent historical public record for the British Police Service of all police officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty since the earliest days of professional law enforcement over three centuries ago;

to research all available historical and contemporary information about individual officers in both public and official records and to collate and archive the results of this research in line with published criteria for inclusion on the roll;

to record on a database all available details of each officer including the full circumstances of death, service history, personal and family background and details of any honours, awards, or memorials including photographs of the officer and any such memorials;

to maintain these records on a computer database which can be updated with additional or new information as and when this becomes available;

to provide relatives of deceased officers, and other bona fide interested parties, with information and individual written citations relating to each officer, there being no charge to relatives for this service;

to make or cause to be made gifts of money and other gifts and benefits for the relief in need of dependants and other relatives of police officers killed in the line of duty, including offering support for bereaved families and financial assistance for the visiting of any relevant memorial site.

to make appropriate information held on computer readily accessible to the public via computer networks at memorial sites and or via the Internet;

to publish a Roll of Honour, in the form of a ceremonial book of remembrance for permanent exhibition at one or more public national police memorials. For this roll to display, for each day of the year, details of those who have died on that date, showing each officer's name, age, rank and force, and the date, place and brief circumstances of death and any related posthumous honour or award;

to provide, or assist in the provision of, the inscription of the relevant names on a physical monument at the site of any national or local police memorial;
to record the location of all known police memorials and gravestones to officers killed in the line of duty, to maintain a record including photographs of such, and in cases of need to assist in the repair or maintenance of such.

to provide support and assistance to police forces, related organisations and charities with any research relevant to a Police Roll of Honour or Memorial;
to accept, where possible, invitations to attend any appropriate Police Memorial, Remembrance or Dedication Service in order to show support for the police service and for families of deceased officers and to promulgate the work of the Trust.