Hertfordshire Police Federation chair Luke Mitchell has backed plans for a digital memorial website for police officers who are killed in the line of duty.

The Police Arboretum Memorial Trust envisages the site as an online companion to the UK Police Memorial which it helped establish at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

It would record the names of fallen officers and carry tributes and personal stories, including interviews with family, friends and colleagues, as well as news archives and personal photographs.

Luke said: “I would like to urge all our members in Hertfordshire to get behind this initiative which will help ensure that the memory of our heroic, fallen colleagues is never forgotten. I know that the trust is launch a month-long consultation to try to shape the website and it is keen to hear our views as police officers, so I would also ask colleagues to take a few minutes to complete the survey.”

Chair of the Police Arboretum Memorial Trustees Martin Hewitt added: “We are at a crossroads as we embark on the next phase of this exciting project and our development of the Digital Memorial. Your views really do count as we create a fitting online tribute to our police service, and I would encourage everyone to complete the online survey.

“Working with our partner, the Police Roll of Honour Trust, the Digital Memorial will give visitors access to the records of almost 5,000 police officers who have dedicated their lives to policing, from as far back as the Bow Street Runners in 1749.”

Complete the survey.