Napier siege victim honoured

ROSS GIBLIN/ The Dominion Post

SAD DAY: From left, Senior Sergeant Chris Flood, Senior Constable Paul Symonds and Senior Constable Grant Diver pay their respects.

ROSS GIBLIN/ The Dominion Post

ALWAYS REMEBERED: The plaque honouring Len Snee has been added to the wall of slain officers at the Police College in Porirua.

ROSS GIBLIN/ The Dominion Post

TINY JOY: Bronwyn Hewitt with grandchild Poppy Williams, 12 days old, at the ceremony.

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He walked with a limp and fought back tears, but Senior Constable Grant Diver would not have missed it for the world.

It has been less than five months since Napier gunman Jan Molenaar held police at bay for 50 hours, after shooting dead Senior Constable Len Snee and wounding Mr Diver and Senior Constable Bruce Miller.

The physical and emotional scars of the siege for police were evident yesterday as a plaque honouring Mr Snee was added to the wall of slain officers at the Royal New Zealand Police College.

More than 40 police from Hawke's Bay, including 18 armed offenders squad members involved in the siege, were in attendance to mark Police Remembrance Day.

Mr Diver and Mr Miller were both there, alongside Mr Snee's widow, Vicky.

Walking with a limp after being shot in the lower left back and buttock, Mr Diver said his injuries were "coming along" and he would soon make a decision about staying in the police. "It's nice to come here and remember Len and reflect on his life. It's a special time."

Senior Constable Paul Symonds cried as he looked at the plaque, summing up his feelings with: "He was my best mate."

Detective Sergeant Nic Clere, head of the Napier armed offenders squad, said the occasion was a reminder of the risks police faced every day.

"Len was held in high esteem and it's fitting for all of us to be here. But it certainly makes you reflect. That's a wall that no one wants to go on."

Twenty-nine police officers have been killed in the line of duty since 1890. Though no police in Australia and the Pacific have died in the past year, three Kiwi officers have been slain in 15 months.

Sergeant Derek Wootton was run down in Porirua in July 2008, and two months later Sergeant Don Wilkinson was shot dead in Auckland while on an undercover drug operation.

Mr Wootton's fiancee, Bronwyn Hewitt, now has a 12-day-old granddaughter to help her move on with life.

But she said it was very difficult seeing two other officers killed in so short a time. "It makes you think: `Is there going to be another one next year'?"

"Every week I bring flowers and polish Derek's plaque and I've started polishing Don Wilkinson's. I guess now I've got another one to polish up."

Police Association president Greg O'Connor said more criminals were arming themselves against each other and police were becoming collateral damage – as in the case of Mr Wilkinson and Mr Snee.

"In the last 10 years we've had the same number of police killed as in all of Australia.

"The difference is the Australian states are armed ... that's something we need to talk about."

- © Fairfax NZ News