On Sunday police officers up and down the country remembered colleagues who had lost their lives in their work as part of National Police Memorial Day. Around 2000 officers and family members traveled to St Paul’s Cathedral on Sunday to take part in a service of commemoration. The memorial day has been taking place since 2004 when a Kent police officer wanted to find a way of acknowledging the recent death of a colleague. However police officers have been in the front line in many communities since 1792 when the office of constable was first established. Since then around 4,000 men and women have lost their lives throughout the United Kingdom whilst working as police officers. The extent to which the police are first amongst many of our public services to place themselves in danger on our behalf is not something that is hard to understand. However many other public servants do take substantial risks each day when they go to work. People such as fire officers, prison officers, nurses, paramedics, social workers and teachers to name just a few. There are also many other services which are provided by agencies manned extensively or exclusively by volunteers. Those that come to mind include the lifeboat service and mountain rescue. Without in any way detracting from the National Police Memorial Day, is it time for us to set aside a day or even a few minutes each year when we can add our thanks to those of the families whose lives have been secured as a result of the selfless acts of courage?