Wreaths placed by Police Commissioner Richard Chambers and Police Minister Mark Mitchell outside the Nelson Central Police Station to remember officers who've lost their lives in the line of duty. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
A memorial to Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming has been unveiled outside the Nelson Police Station by her children.
Fleming died after being struck by a car on New Year's Day while on foot patrol in Nelson.
She was being honoured on Monday at a national remembrance service for officers killed in the line of duty.
Fleming is the 34th name on the police roll of honour, which recognised officers killed on duty.
The stone used for the memorial was taken from the St Arnaud Range and is surround by alpine plants outside the Nelson Central Police Station. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
A plaque dedicated to her sits atop a rock from the St Arnaud Range, which is now nestled in a garden outside the Nelson Central Police Station.
"In memory of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming, tragically killed on duty 1st January 2025, never forgotten," it reads.
Monday's service was attended by Fleming's family, along with many of her colleagues in police and other emergency services.
It was organised by Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay, who was also critically injured during the attack and required surgery.
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said Fleming was a remarkable policewoman.
The two worked together when he was the Tasman District Commander between 2012 and 2014 and Chambers said he did not want to be "anywhere else other than right here in Nelson with my colleagues" on his first remembrance day as commissioner.
Chambers said he had not long gone to bed in the early hours of New Years Day, after working with colleagues in the North Island, when he got the call to tell him Fleming had been fatally injured.
"It's probably the thing that frightens me the most is my phone ringing in the middle of the night and that happened only five weeks into [this role] so it was a pretty rough sort of start, but at the end of the day you know I'm the Police Commissioner and my job is to back the front line and support them through good times and the tough times."
Lyn Fleming's children Aren and Rayna Olsen. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
He said he loved working alongside Fleming and it was he who promoted her to Senior Sergeant because she was so good at what she did and so supportive of younger officers.
"She was a woman who cared so much about her colleagues so it's very, very sad that she's no longer with us given the circumstances but it's wonderful to just see the outpouring of support and happiness for the recognition that we've given her today."
When Chambers was district commander, he asked her to find solutions to some of the most difficult challenges they were facing in policing, he said.
"Whatever Lyn did, she did remarkably well, she was incredibly committed and she's missed deeply here in Nelson Bays and across the organisation."
Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay who was also injured while on patrol on New Year's Day. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
Police were one big family and losing one of their own was tough, Chambers said. The job was a difficult one, and it was not getting any easier.
"Lyn was our first policewoman killed in the line of duty, the first Nelson-based police colleague killed on duty, and our 34th in New Zealand Police, so the grief that comes with that is going to last for many, many years."
He told the Nelson Bays police staff they had the support of their 15,000 colleagues from around the country and support from the wider community.
"Thank you for what you do out there in policing, for the courage and the strength that you show in what is becoming a more challenging and volatile job."
Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
Police Minister Mark Mitchell said New Zealand had one of the most highly respected police forces in the world and Fleming had contributed to that legacy.
"Everyone you speak to, the way that she looked after and guided the young constables under her care and her supervision, the way that she put on display all the values that mean so much to that police family, they will not be lost, they carry on."
The roll is read annually on Police Remembrance Day on 29 September - the feast day of the police patron saint, Archangel Michael.
Serving, retired ,and former police staff who have died in the past year would also be recognised at services up and down the country.
A memorial stone for police officer Lyn Fleming was unveiled outside the Nelson Central Police Station. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
Constable Matthew Hunt, who was posthumously awarded the New Zealand Bravery Decoration last year, has also been recognised.
Hunt was fatally shot during a routine traffic stop in West Auckland in 2020.
Police said the national service would also remember police colleagues in Australia and the Pacific who had been killed by criminal acts while on duty, or had died as a result of their duties.
Wreaths would be laid at the New Zealand Police war memorial and recruits would perform a haka, police said.
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