Dame Cressida Dick: Metropolitan Police tribute to Matt Ratana and other slain officers

OPINION

One week after the horrific murder of our colleague, Sergeant Matiu Ratana, known in the UK as Matt, it has been a humbling experience to see and hear the heartfelt tributes to Matt in the UK and New Zealand.

It has reminded all of us at the Metropolitan Police Service here in London how much the public values ​​the efforts of police officers to keep them safe. We have heard from people of all backgrounds, religions, ages, and views who acknowledge Matt’s spirit and his service. In a sad moment like this, that support means a lot.

Matt was a great police officer. He was a good “captain” – our word for a sergeant – and a charming man, with a willing smile and a big heart. A proud Maori, he loved his rugby and physical training and community service.

Our hearts go out to his partner Su and all of Matt’s friends and family, his whānau, his loved ones and his police family.

Just as there are British expats serving as police officers in the New Zealand Police, there are Kiwi officers serving at the Met and other British police officers. Matt did both.

He served at the Met for nearly three decades and with the New Zealand Police, Auckland City and Manukau Counties. So it was a fitting tribute for me to be able to host the New Zealand High Commissioner in London and the New Zealand Police Senior Liaison Officer this week to lay flowers and pay their respects at the Croydon Custody Center where Matt was murdered.

Visiting the site together, it was surprising to see how in a single week the tributes to Matt had become a sanctuary of respect and pride for the impact he had on people’s lives and the strength of the feeling of his death. There were flowers, silver ferns, tributes to the police and rugby, all truly appropriate for a man who loved police and rugby, and took pride in his service and heritage. Matt shared that pride with others, with the memory of his haka living with his colleagues in Croydon.

Therefore, I was moved to see the haka at the Royal New Zealand Police College in Porirua honoring officers killed in the line of duty. It was such a powerful tribute.

Of course, the officers and staff at the meetings are in close contact with colleagues in the New Zealand Police. We are grateful for your support.

I was happy to speak with New Zealand Police Commissioner Andrew Coster, who I know felt what we feel now when in June this year Police Officer Matthew Hunt was shot and killed in West Auckland. Another terrible tragedy, another cop killed, another loss deeply felt by all who knew him.

Being a cop can be very difficult. Every day officers confront danger and confront it to keep people safe. Having served the Met for nearly four decades, I know how tragic times like this bring people even more together.

I know that in both the UK and New Zealand, this will serve to redouble our resolve to fight crime and keep people safe. It will redouble our resolve to protect each other as we go out every day to serve and protect the public.

It is difficult to put into words the strength of feeling at the loss of a police officer and to find the words that best show our support for the family and friends of the officers who have been killed.

But I remember what Andrew Coster said to PC Matthew Hunt’s family: Be strong, be confident, be patient – be strong, be brave, be firm.

So for Matthew and Matt, both lost to us, both forever in our thoughts, and to their family and friends, I repeat those words here: Kia kaha, Kia māia, Kia manawanui – be strong, be brave, be firm.

• Dame Cressida Dick is the commissioner of the Scotland Yard Metropolitan Police.
The Metropolitan Police has opened a virtual book of condolences at www.met.police.uk/in-memoriam. All messages will be read and some will be posted on the website for others to read.