List of New Zealand police officers killed in the line of duty

This is a list of New Zealand Police officers and non-sworn staff killed in the line of duty. As of 2025, 34 police officers have been killed by criminal act, 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 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 accidents.
A slain officer may receive a police funeral, including an honour guard and flag-draped casket, and be officially mourned in the New Zealand House of Representatives. 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; notably the drowning of Enzo in 2007, Gage, a six-year-old German Shepherd, in 2010. In 2014, 4-year-old German Shepherd Gazza was shot and killed in Porirua.

Officers

Killed by criminal act

Since 1 September 1886.

QID	Rank	Name	Age	Honours	Date	Circumstance	Location	Notes
91	Constable	Neil McLeod	44		30 7 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
674	Sergeant	John Patrick Hackett McGuire	42		14 4 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
963	Constable	John Doyle	35		5 2 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
2030	Constable	Vivian Dudding	32		6 10 1919	Shot in the head while attending a domestic dispute where the divorced husband Alexander Aspin broke into his ex-wives house.	Thorndon, Wellington
1764	Constable	James Dorgan	37		27 8 1921	Shot at point blank range while investigating a break-in at T & J Thomson’s Department Store, the killer was never found.	Timaru
1582	Constable	Thomas Heeps	50		21 10 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
2209	Sergeant	William Cooper	43		8 10 1941	Shot by farmer Stanley Graham, who they were attempting to apprehend after he refused to surrender firearms.	Hokitika
3526	Constable	Frederick William Jordan	26		8 10 1941	Shot by farmer Stanley Graham, who they were attempting to apprehend after he refused to surrender firearms.	Hokitika
3039	Constable	Percy Campbell Tulloch	35		8 10 1941	Shot by farmer Stanley Graham, who they were attempting to apprehend after he refused to surrender firearms.	Hokitika
2364	Constable	Edward Mark Best	42		8 10 1941	Shot by farmer Stanley Graham, who they were attempting to apprehend after he refused to surrender firearms.	Hokitika
36	Traffic Officer	John Kehoe	24		31 1 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
2691	Sergeant	William Shore Hughes	48	Gold Merit Award	27 5 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
	Detective Inspector	Wallace Chalmers	46	QPM	6 1 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
2839	Detective Sergeant	Neville Wilson Power	25	QPM	6 1 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
4321	Constable	James Thomas Richardson	24		3 2 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
3809	Constable	Brian Leslie Schultz	21		3 2 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
4699	Constable	Donald Richard Stokes	23		15 8 1966	Beaten by escaping prisoners at Dunedin police station, died later in hospital.	Dunedin
2950	Sergeant	Gilbert Peter Arcus	44		4 2 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
5052	Constable	Peter William Murphy	21		25 9 1976	Shot attending a break-in at a sports shop.	Invercargill
1395	Traffic Officer	Barry Yorston Gibson	32		13 6 1977	Assaulted by a motorist and died in hospital from head injuries.	New Plymouth
1351	Traffic Officer	Robin Jamieson Dudding	44	GM	7 4 1986	Taken hostage and later shot dead by Ross Kameta.	Lake Rotoiti, Bay of Plenty
4601	Senior Constable	Peter Morris Umbers	35	GM	27 5 1990	Bashed to death with his own baton by Richard Thomas Lakich, who he had stopped.	Ranfurly
5024	Sergeant	Stewart Guthrie	41	GC	13 11 1990	Shot in the head after encountering and firing a warning shot at spree killer David Gray during the Aramoana massacre.	Aramoana
D717	Constable	Glenn Arthur McKibben	25		21 4 1996	Shot standing beside his police car by former soldier Terence Thompson, who was later shot dead by Armed Offenders Squad.	Flaxmere, Hastings
G083	Constable	Lester Murray Stretch	38		27 5 1999	Bashed to death by Carlos Namana, a burglar he had followed from a break-in.	Mangakino
F272	Detective Constable	Duncan Taylor	39	NZBM	5 7 2002	Died instantly after being shot by teenager Daniel Luff, his partner escaped wounded.	Rongotea, Manawatū
G092	Sergeant	Derek Wootton	52		11 7 2008	Struck by a carjacked vehicle with a hostage fleeing police while laying road spikes.	Titahi Bay
I417	Sergeant	Don Wilkinson	47		11 9 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
5766	Senior Constable	Leonard Snee	53		7 5 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
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

Killed by accident

Badge	Rank	Name	Age	Honours	Date	Circumstance	Location	Notes
	Constable	Fitzgerald			26 9 1851	Drowned when a boat making for the Lady Nugent capsized.	Lyttelton Harbour
	Sergeant-Major	Edward John Garvey	30	Légion d'honneur	25 9 1863	Died in a snowstorm on his way to inspect mine diggings near Naseby.	Kakanui Range
	Constable	John Duncan			28 5 1865	Drowned travelling in a punt to investigate a burglary.	Kaniere
	Constable	James Robinson			13 11 1891	Fell and struck head on iron bar at police station.	Westport
	Constable	Denis Mahoney	c. 38		28 3 1914	Killed by an explosion, together with 7 other volunteers, while fighting a fire at the Benge and Pratt store.	Upper Hutt
	Constable	A J Dillon	c. 32		18 1 1916	Drowned with nurse Regan who he was attempting to save.	West Coast
	Constable	Adam George Begg	26		24 2 1926	Killed by a passing train while searching the Parnell Tunnel for an escaped prisoner.	Parnell, Auckland
	Constable	James Shields				Car was hit by the Rotorua Express at a railway crossing.	Huntly
	Constable	Charles Williams				Drowned attempting to save a woman who fell from the Hamilton Railway Bridge.	Waikato River
	Constable	W J Watt			10 8 1939	Car went off Elephant Hill bridge, returning to a shooting investigation, Constable Black seriously injured.	Waimate
191	Constable	Cecil Edgar Orr	38		24 2 1942	Struck and killed by a train while searching for property along the railway tracks.	Parnell
	Constable	Alan Robert Liddell	22		26 2 1976	Drowned while conducting an investigation with two colleagues, into a drowning on the river 17 days earlier.	Grey River
	Constable	Greg Rowe	23		1 04 1978	Drowned after leg became entangled in a rope and fell overboard from Lady Elizabeth II.	Palliser Bay
	Senior Sergeant	Phillip William "Phil" Ward	39		2 07 1986	Drowned when police launch Lady Elizabeth II capsized during a storm, two other officers rescued by Peter Button.	Wellington Harbour
	Constable	Glenn Andrews Hughes	28		2 07 1986	Drowned when police launch Lady Elizabeth II capsized during a storm, two other officers rescued by Peter Button.	Wellington Harbour
	Detective	Anthony Raymond "Tony" Harrod	43		17 12 1990	Fell from helicopter sling during cannabis recovery operation.	Waitotara Valley, Taranaki
	Sergeant	Lindsay Eion "Lou" Grant	39		26 11 1993	Police helicopter Eagle collided mid-air with a Piper Archer traffic spotting aircraft. Two civilians also died.	Auckland CBD
	Constable	Alastair Alan Sampson	27		26 11 1993	Police helicopter Eagle collided mid-air with a Piper Archer traffic spotting aircraft. Two civilians also died.	Auckland CBD
	Senior Constable	Phillip Anthony "Piripi" Wipatene	55		15 7 2004	Patrol car collided with another car on the Oakura Bridge.	New Plymouth
	Detective	Travis Hughes	37		29 1 2005	Cessna 172 aircraft crashed while on cannabis reconnaissance, civilian pilot also died.	Gibbston Valley, Central Otago
	Police Employee	Pamela Brien	54		22 2 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