Register now if you want to attend National Police Memorial Day

8 April 2025

Officers are being urged to consider attending this year’s National Police Memorial Day (NPMD) service, which will be held at Coventry Cathedral for the first time.

The service will be held on Sunday 28 September.

“The memorial day service is, I think, one of the most important dates in the policing year,” says Derbyshire Police Federation secretary Kirsty Bunn.

“It is attended by police officers of all ranks, representatives of policing bodies, such as the Police Federation, as well as political and civic leaders but most important of all the guests are the families of fallen officers."

The event is always held on the closest Sunday to 29 September which is St Michael’s Day - and St Michael is the patron saint of police officers.

Kirsty added: “The service provides us with an opportunity to show them their loved ones are not forgotten and that they too remain part of the policing family.

Memorial Day

“Coventry is not that far from Derbyshire, so I would urge any officer who has not yet attended a National Police Memorial Day service to consider going this year. I believe all officers should try to attend at least once during their time in the police service.”

Around 5,000 police officers have died while on duty in the past 180 years.

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

The memorial day service rotates around England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each year. Most of the services hosted in England have been held in London, but Lincoln was the venue for the 2021 event.

This year’s service will start at 2pm with attendees asked to be seated by 1.30pm.