Police and civilian receive bravery awards for their - New Zealand ...

New Zealand Police AssociationNapier police receive bravery awardsFourteen people, including several policeofficers, were honoured in a ceremonyat Government House recently. Thismarked their bravery in the armed siegein Napier in May 2009 in which SeniorConstable Len Snee was shot dead andtwo of his colleagues, Senior ConstableGrant Diver and Senior Constable BruceMiller were seriously wounded.Len Holmwood, a neighbour of thegunman, came to the officers’ aid andwas shot through the hip after trying towrestle the rifle from the gunman’s grip.Mr Holmwood was also honoured with abravery award during the ceremony.The siege lasted 50 hours before thegunman, Jan Molenaar, shot himself.Unarmed officerDetective Tim Smith was one of the firston the scene and twice put himself in theline of fire in trying to aid his strickencolleagues, despite being unarmed, TheDominion Post reported.Mr Smith used a civilian’s car to drivethrough Molenaar’s line of fire to rescueSenior Constable Bruce Miller.The car he was in was shot twice.He later risked his life again to rescueSenior Constable Grant Diver.“Without his outstanding contribution,the outcome for the wounded officersmight have been different,” his citationsaid.Speaking after the ceremony, Mr Smithsaid it was a proud day but also a dayto remember Mr Snee, whom he hadknown.Gut instinct“I think you weigh up calculated risk,” hesaid of putting himself in the line of fire.“To be honest, with 26 years in the policeyou are well trained in situations and Ithink you act on gut instinct at times.”Mr Smith was one of five people to get aNew Zealand Bravery Star recently – thesecond from top in the four-tier NewZealand Bravery Awards system.Toy tiger causes UK police alertPolice scrambled helicopters andordered tranquilisers to hunt what theyfeared was an escaped wild animal insouthern England - before realising thetiger was a toy.Hampshire Police responded afterseveral residents called in to say they’dseen a white tiger in a field near a golfcourse in Hedge End, near the Englishcoastal city of Southampton, accordingto an Associated Press report.A tongue-in-cheek recorded messageposted to the force’s media line said thatafter “a brief stalk through the HedgeEnd savannah...it became obvious thatthe tiger was a stuffed, life-sized toy.”A second message posted emphasisedpolice had a duty to take such sightingsseriously. The renegade tiger wasreportedly treated as “lost property”when eventually located.10.25% paA Police and Families Credit Unionpersonal loan can help you achievethe things you want sooner.Whether it’s a car, holiday, homeimprovements or consolidatingyour credit cards into one payment:Police Credit Union is here to help.PFCU Board electionIn accordance with Rule 7, I callfor nominations for two directorsof the Police and Families CreditUnion.Nominations close on 26August 2011 at 4pm. Thesemust be in writing, signed bytwo members eligible to vote,and include the written consent of thenominee. Nomination forms are availablefrom Head Office in Wellington.Nominations should be marked confidentialand sent to:The Returning Officer, Don ClaytonP O Box 12344, Wellington 6144.Directors are elected for atwo-year term, and retiringdirectors may be re-elected.The retiring directors are IanHarris and Stuart Mangnall.If an election is required itwill be conducted by postalballot.All retiring directors have indicated theirintention to stand for re-election. There is noTrustee election this year.Don ClaytonReturning OfficerAugust 2011193