PUT cyclists pay tribute to fallen officers at COPS service

2 August 2021

A team of officers and staff from West Mercia Police has attended a memorial service for fallen colleagues at the National Memorial Arboretum after completing the 200-mile Police Unity Tour (PUT) bike ride to raise funds for the Care of Police Survivors (COPS) charity.

West Mercia Police Federation chair Sarah Cooper paid tribute to the cyclists and the vital work carried out by COPS.

She said: “Organisations such as COPS provide vital support to the bereaved families of officers who have given their lives in the line of duty.

“The team of cyclists from West Mercia Police have pulled out all the stops to raise funds for COPS and I would urge everyone to go to their fund-raising page and reward their effort with a donation.”

The West Mercia team was riding as part of the PUT West Midlands Chapter and left Force HQ on Friday morning before arriving at the arboretum in Staffordshire in time for the COPS service of remembrance yesterday. Each wore a wristband dedicated to a fallen officer.

The outdoor ceremony featured moving readings, poetry and songs from relatives of fallen officers with music provided by the West Midlands Police band.

A roll of honour featuring the names of the 27 officers who have lost their lives since the last memorial service in 2019 was read out and wreaths were laid by the Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire Ian Dudson and representatives from the Home Office, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, HMICFRS, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Blue Knights, PUT, COPS and the National Memorial Arboretum.

The closing address was delivered by the chair of the COPS board of trustees, Sir Peter Fahey, who paid tribute to the family and friends of fallen colleagues, some of whom had delivered addresses explaining their experiences and paying tribute to the support they have from the charity.

He told the service: “Every time I talk to a survivor, you lift me, you inspire me with your courage, with your bravery and with your openness and the way you support each other because that is what this charity is all about.

“You have heard so very, very powerfully about how important that is.

“It is so challenging to be a police officer or a member of the police staff and we have seen that particularly over the past two years.

“It has never felt really that policing has been so unappreciated and so misunderstood with police officers and police staff under such pressure.

“And of course our roll of honour only reflects those officers and staff who have died over the last two years but COPS is very much about continuing the memory for many years past and we all know that time isn’t a great healer, it just piles up the family events, the birthdays, the occasions where that loved one is missing.

“Policing asks so much of the people who step forward to serve. Officers and staff take so many risks and all the time they carry the pressures of what they have seen and what they have had to deal with - much of it not noticed by the public and not appreciated - often dealing with very traumatic and upsetting incidents.

“Whatever might be the circumstances in which an officer or member of staff dies, they are carrying those pressures and it is so very, very important that this sacrifice and the sacrifice of their loved ones and families are recognised in this way.

“We in COPS will never forget that and none of the survivors will ever forget that as we move forward, as we grow and as we continue to support one another.”