List of New Zealand police officers killed in the line of duty
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This is a list of New Zealand Police officers and non-sworn staff[1] killed in the line of duty. As of 2025, 34 police officers have been killed by criminal act,[2][3][4] and about 17 have died from accidental causes, during the execution of duty. There has been one instance of multiple police deaths, when Stanley Graham gunned down four officers (and two wartime home guardsmen) attempting to apprehend him in 1941, and four double fatalities. Most of the homicides have been a result of gunshot wounds, the accidents mainly due to either drowning or vehicle (car/aircraft) accidents.
A slain officer may receive a police funeral, including an honour guard and flag-draped casket,[5] and be officially mourned in the New Zealand House of Representatives.[6][7] At least four officers have received posthumous honours—Sergeant Stewart Guthrie received the highest Commonwealth civilian decoration, the George Cross. The Lou Grant Award, created in the memory of the police sergeant who died in the 1993 Eagle helicopter mid-air collision, is awarded every second year for excellence and contributions to search and rescue.
The Memorial Wall at the Royal New Zealand Police College lists the names of fallen colleagues, whom the service commemorates annually on Police Remembrance Day. The Police Association together with the New Zealand Police introduced a Police Remembrance Day Pin in 2007, for officers to wear to honour the memory of those slain during the course of duty. The pin combines a Huia tail feather with a police chevron; the Huia bird was sacred in Māori culture, wearing of its feathers restricted to people of high status.
In addition to the human officers, 24 police dogs have died in the line of duty;[8] notably the drowning of Enzo in 2007,[9] Gage, a six-year-old German Shepherd, in 2010. In 2014, 4-year-old German Shepherd Gazza was shot and killed in Porirua.
Officers
shaded rows denotes when officers were killed in the same incident.
Killed - cause pending determination
| QID (Query identity) | Rank | Name | Age | Honours | Date | Circumstance | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LFE773 | Senior Sergeant | Lyn Fleming | 62 | 1 January 2025 | Struck by a vehicle driving at speed while conducting a foot patrol in the Nelson City Centre. The incident was described as unprovoked and senseless. Another officer was seriously injured and a further officer and two members of the public were injured, but are stable. Hayden Donald Jason Tasker has been charged with Flemings murder. | Nelson | [10][11][4][12][13][14][15] |
Killed by criminal act
Since 1 September 1886.[16]
| QID (Query identity) | Rank | Name | Age | Honours | Date | Circumstance | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 91 | Constable | Neil McLeod | 44 | 30 July 1890 | Gumdigger Henry Funcke was removed from a steamer and had his rifle confiscated. He became angry and drew a concealed pistol, firing several shots at the departing ship, one of which struck McLeod in the chest. | Dargaville (Mangawhare Wharf) | [17] | |
| 674 | Sergeant | John Patrick Hackett McGuire | 42 | 14 April 1910 | Shot in the stomach during a manhunt, and died four days later. John Joseph Powelka was acquitted of murder but received 21 cumulative years for seven charges of burglary. | Palmerston North | [18] | |
| 963 | Constable | John Doyle | 35 | 5 February 1913 | Died in Palmerston North hospital four days after being assaulted by two men he was escorting out of the Albion Hotel. Peter MacDonald was charged with grievous bodily harm and sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment. | Shannon | [19][20] | |
| 2030 | Constable | Vivian Dudding | 32 | 6 October 1919 | Shot in the head while attending a domestic dispute where the divorced husband Alexander Aspin broke into his ex-wives house. | Thorndon, Wellington | [21][22] | |
| 1764 | Constable | James Dorgan | 37 | 27 August 1921 | Shot at point blank range while investigating a break-in at T & J Thomson’s Department Store, the killer was never found. | Timaru | [23][24] | |
| 1582 | Constable | Thomas Heeps | 50 | 21 October 1934 | Shot twice while attempting to apprehend Henare Hona, the subject of a manhunt after the brutal mass murder of the Davenport family. Heeps died in Waikato Hospital the next day. | Morrinsville (nearby) | [25][26] | |
| 2209 | Sergeant | William Cooper | 43 | 8 October 1941 | Shot by farmer Stanley Graham, who they were attempting to apprehend after he refused to surrender firearms. | Hokitika (nearby) | [27] | |
| 3526 | Constable | Frederick William Jordan | 26 | [28] | ||||
| 3039 | Constable | Percy Campbell Tulloch | 35 | [29] | ||||
| 2364 | Constable | Edward Mark Best | 42 | [30] | ||||
| 36 | Traffic Officer | John Kehoe | 24 | 31 January 1949 | Shot several times by Richard Angus McGill, who he had stopped for speeding with his motorcycle. A farmer was also shot, but survived. John Kehoe was the first Traffic Officer to be killed in the line of duty. | Whakatāne | [31] | |
| 2691 | Sergeant | William Shore Hughes | 48 | Gold Merit Award | 27 May 1951 | Shot while investigating a call for help after Noema Raana Rika armed with a shotgun threatened a family firing multiple shots. Despite being shot in the arm Hughes wrestled for the shotgun, but another shot was fired and Hughes was killed. Mary Wehipeihana Te Hiwi and her daughters, Pearl and Victoria were also killed. Noema Raana Rika shot himself in the chest. | Ōtaki | [32][33] |
| Detective Inspector | Wallace Chalmers | 46 | QPM | 6 January 1963 | Shot dead by Victor George Wasmuth while attending a shooting. Wasmuth had already killed a neighbour and injuring another man before police arrived. He was later declared insane. | Waitākere Ranges | [34] | |
| 2839 | Detective Sergeant | Neville Wilson Power | 25 | QPM | [35] | |||
| 4321 | Constable | James Thomas Richardson | 24 | 3 February 1963 | Shot dead by Bruce Douglas McPhee who had been drinking and taking tranquillisers. The pair were sitting in their police car outside McPhee's address, after responding to investigate a domestic dispute. | Lower Hutt | [36] | |
| 3809 | Constable | Brian Leslie Schultz | 21 | [37][38] | ||||
| 4699 | Constable | Donald Richard Stokes | 23 | 15 August 1966 | Beaten by escaping prisoners at Dunedin police station, died later in hospital. | Dunedin | [39] | |
| 2950 | Sergeant | Gilbert Peter Arcus | 44 | 4 February 1970 | Assaulted by a mentally disturbed woman he was trying to placate, fell and struck his head on the ground, dying from the injury an hour later. | Tauranga | [40] | |
| 5052 | Constable | Peter William Murphy | 21 | 25 September 1976 | Shot attending a break-in at a sports shop. | Invercargill | [41] | |
| 1395 | Traffic Officer | Barry Yorston Gibson | 32 | 13 June 1977 | Assaulted by a motorist and died in hospital from head injuries. | New Plymouth | [42] | |
| 1351 | Traffic Officer | Robin Jamieson Dudding | 44 | GM | 7 April 1986 | Taken hostage and later shot dead by Ross Kameta. | Lake Rotoiti, Bay of Plenty | [43][44] |
| 4601 | Senior Constable | Peter Morris Umbers | 35 | GM | 27 May 1990 | Bashed to death with his own baton by Richard Thomas Lakich, who he had stopped. | Ranfurly (nearby) | [45] |
| 5024 | Sergeant | Stewart Guthrie | 41 | GC | 13 November 1990 | Shot in the head after encountering and firing a warning shot at spree killer David Gray during the Aramoana massacre. | Aramoana | [46] |
| D717 | Constable | Glenn Arthur McKibben | 25 | 21 April 1996 | Shot standing beside his police car by former soldier Terence Thompson, who was later shot dead by Armed Offenders Squad. | Flaxmere, Hastings | [47][48] | |
| G083 | Constable | Lester Murray Stretch | 38 | 27 May 1999 | Bashed to death by Carlos Namana, a burglar he had followed from a break-in. | Mangakino | [49][50] | |
| F272 | Detective Constable | Duncan Taylor | 39 | NZBM | 5 July 2002 | Died instantly after being shot by teenager Daniel Luff, his partner escaped wounded. | Rongotea, Manawatū | [51][52][53] |
| G092 | Sergeant | Derek Wootton | 52 | 11 July 2008 | Struck by a carjacked vehicle with a hostage fleeing police while laying road spikes. | Titahi Bay | [49][54][55] | |
| I417 | Sergeant | Don Wilkinson | 47 | 11 September 2008 | Disturbed while attempting to secretly fix a tracking device to a car, received several shots from a .22 air rifle, one fatally through the chest. | Māngere | [56][57] | |
| 5766 | Senior Constable | Leonard Snee | 53 | 7 May 2009 | Shot executing a cannabis search warrant by former territorial soldier Jan Molenaar, other officers and a member of the public received gunshot wounds. | Napier | [58] | |
| MHIH84 | Constable | Matthew Dennis Hunt | 28 | NZBD | 19 June 2020 | Shot dead during a routine traffic stop. Another officer was also shot and seriously injured. A civilian was struck and injured as the two suspects fled the scene. Eli Epiha pleaded guilty to Hunt's murder. | Massey | [59][60][61][62][63][64] |
Killed by accident
| Badge | Rank | Name | Age | Honours | Date | Circumstance | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constable | Fitzgerald | 26 September 1851 | Drowned when a boat making for the Lady Nugent capsized. | Lyttelton Harbour | [65][66] | |||
| Sergeant-Major | Edward John Garvey | 30 | Légion d'honneur | 25 September 1863 | Died in a snowstorm on his way to inspect mine diggings near Naseby. | Kakanui Range | [67][68][69] | |
| Constable | John Duncan | 28 May 1865 | Drowned travelling in a punt to investigate a burglary. | Kaniere (nearby) | [citation needed] | |||
| Constable | James Robinson | 13 November 1891 | Fell and struck head on iron bar at police station. | Westport | [70][71][72] | |||
| Constable | Denis Mahoney | c. 38 | 28 March 1914 | Killed by an explosion, together with 7 other volunteers, while fighting a fire at the Benge and Pratt store. | Upper Hutt | [73] | ||
| Constable | A J Dillon | c. 32 | 18 January 1916 | Drowned with nurse Regan who he was attempting to save. | West Coast | [74] | ||
| Constable | Adam George Begg | 26 | 24 February 1926 | Killed by a passing train while searching the Parnell Tunnel for an escaped prisoner. | Parnell, Auckland | [75][76] | ||
| Constable | James Shields | October 1933 | Car was hit by the Rotorua Express at a railway crossing. | Huntly (nearby) | [citation needed] | |||
| Constable | Charles Williams | August 1935 | Drowned attempting to save a woman who fell from the Hamilton Railway Bridge. | Waikato River | [citation needed] | |||
| Constable | W J Watt | 10 August 1939 | Car went off Elephant Hill bridge, returning to a shooting investigation, Constable Black seriously injured. | Waimate (nearby) | [77] | |||
| 191 | Constable | Cecil Edgar Orr | 38 | 24 February 1942 | Struck and killed by a train while searching for property along the railway tracks. | Parnell | [78] | |
| Constable | Alan Robert Liddell | 22 | 26 February 1976 | Drowned while conducting an investigation with two colleagues, into a drowning on the river 17 days earlier. | Grey River | [79] | ||
| Constable | Greg Rowe | 23 | 1 April 1978 | Drowned after leg became entangled in a rope and fell overboard from Lady Elizabeth II. | Palliser Bay (nearby) | [80][81] | ||
| Senior Sergeant | Phillip William "Phil" Ward | 39 | 2 July 1986 | Drowned when police launch Lady Elizabeth II capsized during a storm, two other officers rescued by Peter Button. | Wellington Harbour | [82] | ||
| Constable | Glenn Andrews Hughes | 28 | ||||||
| Detective | Anthony Raymond "Tony" Harrod | 43 | 17 December 1990 | Fell from helicopter sling during cannabis recovery operation. | Waitotara Valley, Taranaki | [83][84] | ||
| Sergeant | Lindsay Eion "Lou" Grant | 39 | 26 November 1993 | Police helicopter Eagle collided mid-air with a Piper Archer traffic spotting aircraft. Two civilians also died. | Auckland CBD | [85] | ||
| Constable | Alastair Alan Sampson | 27 | ||||||
| Senior Constable | Phillip Anthony "Piripi" Wipatene | 55 | 15 July 2004 | Patrol car collided with another car on the Oakura Bridge. | New Plymouth (14 km southwest) | [86] | ||
| Detective | Travis Hughes | 37 | 29 January 2005 | Cessna 172 aircraft crashed while on cannabis reconnaissance, civilian pilot also died. | Gibbston Valley, Central Otago | [87][88] | ||
| Police Employee | Pamela (Pam) Brien | 54 | 22 February 2011 | Killed in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Pamela Brien was at a work-related meeting related to her job in the child protection unit of the Christchurch detachment when the earthquake hit, resulting in the CTV Building she was in collapsing. | Christchurch | [89] |
See also
- List of British police officers killed in the line of duty
- List of Gardaí killed in the line of duty
- List of Malaysian police officers killed in the line of duty
- List of Singapore police officers killed in the line of duty
- List of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in the United States
- List of People's Armed Police personnel killed in the line of duty
- Additionally, Category:Police officers killed in the line of duty lists individual articles.