COPS service honours fallen officers
2 August 2021
A West Midlands Police Special Constable who died from the injuries he sustained after being struck by a vehicle while on duty has been honoured at a special ceremony at the National Memorial Arboretum.
Resham Singh Nahal (53) was badly hurt in the collision in November 2019 and died from complications on 26 June last year.
Resham was cited alongside 26 other fallen officers on the roll of honour read out at the poignant service in Staffordshire.
The outdoor ceremony featured moving readings and poetry from relatives of fallen officers with music provided by the West Midlands Police Band.
The 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 by Gill Marshall, national president of Care of Police Survivors (COPS), the charity which arranged the event.
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, the Police Unity Tour, COPS and the National Memorial Arboretum.
West Midlands Police Federation chair Jon Nott said: “This was a very moving ceremony for everyone who attended but there was an added poignancy for those who knew and worked with Resham.
“We will never forget any of our fallen colleagues and it is important that their memories are honoured on occasions such as this.”
Jon also paid tribute to COPS which organised the service and the hundreds of officers who took part in the three-day Police Unity Tour bike ride to raise money for the charity and finished their marathon challenge at the arboretum where they were greeted by family and friends.
“COPS is an extraordinary charity which does incredible work for all of us in the policing family.
“And I am sure that is why hundreds of our colleagues were more than willing to take part in such a challenging bike ride to raise much-needed funds.
“Everyone involved in this event, from COPS and the PUT teams to the National Memorial Arboretum, deserves a massive vote of thanks.”
The service included speeches from the families of fallen officers and the closing address was delivered by the chair of the COPS board of trustees, Sir Peter Fahy.
He told the families: “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.”
The service came just days after HRH The Prince of Wales attended the unveiling of the new UK Police Memorial at the arboretum.
