26/04/2005

Queen unveils National Police Memorial

The Queen has unveiled a National Police Memorial in tribute to British police officers killed in the line of duty.

The £2.3 million project includes a large black wall with a glass cabinet displaying a book which names 1,600 police officers who have died in the line of duty.

The memorial, which was designed by architect Lord Norman Foster and Danish visual artist Per Arnoldi, is located in the Mall in central London.

Film director Michael Winner has campaigned for the national memorial to be built since the early Eighties.

Mr Winner set up a charity, the Police Memorial Trust, in order to also raise money for individual tributes to be established for officers killed in the line of duty. The Trust, which was set up by Mr Winner, following the shooting of PC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan Embassy in 1984, has now established 29 memorials throughout the UK.

Speaking at the unveiling of the memorial, the Queen said: “When people pass by the memorial, I hope they will pause and reflect on the proud traditions that it represents. The courage and personal sacrifice recorded here will, I am certain, serve as an inspiration to us all.”

Prime Minister Tony Blair, who attended the event along with Conservative leader Michael Howard and Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy, also paid tribute to those police officers killed in the line of duty. He said: “Thank you for your courage, thank you for your dedication, thank you for your commitment.”

(KMcA/SP)

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