Sunday service for National Police Memorial Day

23 September 2026

With the West Midlands having hosted National Police Memorial Day 2025, the event this year moves from England to Northern Ireland.

This year’s service will be held at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall on Sunday (27 September) with chair Jess Davies representing the West Midlands Police Federation branch.

“Last year’s memorial day service was my first as chair so it was extra special that it was held in Coventry Cathedral, being so close to home,” Jess explained.

“The service was really moving and the cathedral provided the ideal venue for an event that honours our fallen colleagues and allows us to stand by their family members to show them that their sacrifice is never forgotten.”

Fallen officers’ deaths were largely unrecognised until Joe Holness set up the National Police Memorial Day after his Kent Police colleague, Jon Odell, was brutally killed in Margate in December 2000. The first service was held in London in 2004.

The memorial service is held each year on the nearest Sunday to 29 September, which is St Michael's Day with St Michael being the patron saint of police officers. It rotates around the four nations of the United Kingdom.

In the past, when the service has come to England it has been held in London but in 2021 it moved to Lincoln Cathedral and in 2025 to Coventry.

The memorial day aims to:

• Remember police officers who have been killed or died on duty
• Demonstrate to relatives, friends and colleagues of fallen officers that their sacrifice is not forgotten
• Recognise annually the dedication to duty and courage displayed by police officers.

The service is attended by chief officers, politicians and civic dignitaries as well as representatives of Police Federation branches across England and Wales but the focus is very much on the families of fallen officers.

A roll of honour is read out giving the names of officers who have died in the 12 months since the last memorial day service and a candle is lit by a family member of a fallen officer from each of the four countries of the UK.