Mayor’s column: Honouring Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming

The tragic death on New Years Day of Senior Sergeant Fleming from injuries while working in Buxton Square in the early morning hours to keep our city safe was the worst way our city could begin 2025. It is the first time in Nelson a Police Officer had been killed on duty and the first loss for New Zealand of a woman officer.

Tomorrow I will join Lyn’s family, her Police colleagues, the PM, Police Commissioner & Minister, Nelson’s MP, Council CEO and Councillors at her funeral at the Trafalgar Centre. She will appropriately receive full Police honours with a motorcade, piper and flag presentation to her family.

Nelsonians wishing to honour Lyn may observe her motorcade along Halifax St in the section adjacent to Anzac Park between 12.30 & 1pm. The funeral service will also be livestreamed at the Cathedral from 1pm.

Lyn gave extraordinary service of 38 years to our Police as an intelligent, caring and genuine officer. She also gave wider community service as a netball coach at Nelson College for Girls for a decade. I grieve for her family at the loss of a wife, mother, sister and daughter.

I am proud of the way Nelson has responded to this tragedy. The flowers outside our Police Station and in Buxton Square, the hundreds of signatures in the Book of Condolences at the Cathedral and the 2000+ who gathered on the Church steps following the tragedy shows the depth of respect for Snr Sgt Fleming and our Police.

The community is also wanting to wish Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay a full recovery from his serious injuries. We are fortunate he too was not killed given the speed, direct hit and use of a car as a weapon.

We will rely on the courts to hold the offender to account for this attack on our Police. We will in time also need to reflect on whether there are steps we can take to improve safety in our central city. However, our focus this week needs to be on supporting Lyn’s family, her Police colleagues and honouring her service to our city.