More than 1,200 mourners packed into Nelson’s Trafalgar Centre today for a moving ceremony to farewell veteran Police officer, Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming, who was tragically killed after being struck by a vehicle on New Year’s Day.
Police staff from across the country and further afield gathered alongside Senior Sergeant Fleming’s family, friends and members of countless government and community organisations and groups and Lyn’s beloved netball community.
Attendees included Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Police Minister Mark Mitchell, Associate Minister of Police Casey Costello and Minister for Courts and Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee.

Senior officers from every Australian police jurisdiction were also in attendance, including four Commissioners and deputy and assistant commissioners. There were also representatives of US law enforcement, and messages of condolence from Canada, the UK, the Pacific Islands and Europol.
Senior Sergeant Fleming died after being struck by a vehicle early on New Year’s Day, in an incident which also seriously injured her colleague Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay.
It was clear she had touched the lives of so many people and left a strong and far-reaching legacy, NZ Police said in a statement.

Commissioner Richard Chambers told the gathering that after her 38 years and seven months’ service, Senior Sergeant Fleming’s personal file was “big and full of goodness – letters of thanks from members of the community, families, children, for what she did for them in their time of need”.
Her strength of character was highlighted by the fact she brought along snacks for her team on her final shift on New Year’s Eve to get them through the long night ahead, he said.
He outlined Lyn’s policing career, starting in 1986 as a traffic officer in Auckland, before joining Police in 1992 alongside her husband, Bryn, when the organisations merged.

Senior Sergeant Fleming spent 32 years on the frontline in Nelson, moving up the ranks and spending the last seven years as Nelson Bays Area Response Manager, in which role she led a team of high-performing sergeants and constables on the front line.
“Lyn was an officer highly respected by her peers, her staff, and her bosses,” said Commissioner Chambers, who worked with her when he was Tasman District Commander.
Her supervisors’ comments throughout her career showed she had the highest levels of integrity and professionalism, he said – a leader who inspired confidence and cared deeply about her team.
“Lyn was a beautiful soul, she was an outstanding police officer and a leader, and someone that all New Zealanders can be very proud of.”
He thanked all New Zealanders, particularly Nelsonians “for the incredible love and support that has been shown at this tragic time. This love and support helps give us strength to carry on.”
Tasman District Commander Superintendent Tracey Thompson described Senior Sergeant Fleming as a caring, strong, calm, humble and devoted human being.
“She was also fiercely loyal – with an immeasurable sense of duty to the New Zealand Police, her staff, and our communities,” she said.
“These words describe the qualities of an outstanding human being. Also, the attributes of an outstanding Police officer and leader. In these qualities Lyn has left a legacy for us all.”
Supt Thompson said many people had shared stories with her of Senior Sergeant Fleming’s caring and kind nature.
“I have lost count of how many times I heard the phrase ‘because of Lyn’,” she said.

“Because of Lyn you learnt how to do your job well. Because of Lyn you joined Police. Because of Lyn you stayed in Police. Because of Lyn you wanted to be a leader in Police.”
The final Police tribute came from a friend and long-time colleague, former Inspector Dave Gibson, who described Senior Sergeant Fleming as station matron, mother figure and oracle.
“She was a very quiet person but when she spoke it screamed volumes and it was absolutely worth listening to,” he said.
“She wouldn’t have wanted such a big fuss, he said, but would have appreciated the love and support shown to her family by the community.”

Celebrant Diane Strong also commented on Lyn’s humility – she never put herself at the front, just on the front line.
Alongside Bryn in the audience were family members including Senior Sergeant Fleming’s parents Ray and Colleen, children Aren and Rayna Olsen, and her siblings.
Aren and Rayna were the first to pay tribute, speaking of the privilege it was to call Senior Sergeant Fleming their mum.

“By following her example as a parent, as a police officer, coach, a mentor, a member of the community, said Aren.
“By being the person she inspired us all to be, we can leave this world a better place than we found it.”
Tributes also came from Senior Sergeant Fleming’s brother, Mike ‘Woody’ Fleming, who thanked her colleagues and other emergency services who fought to save her, and the Police family liaison officer who had supported the family since the tragedy.
He said that growing up he idolised Senior Sergeant Fleming, his older sister and protector.
Jon Routhan, from Nelson College for Girls, spoke of Senior Sergeant Fleming’s love of and commitment to netball at the school for the last decade and within the Nelson community for the past 30 years.
He said she used netball as a vehicle to teach the girls life skills – and countless players and parents had reached out since her death to share the immense influence Lyn had on their lives.
As well as those at the Trafalgar Centre, people gathered at Nelson Cathedral to watch the service on screens. They were among more than 20,000 people who watched the livestream, and by the following morning nearly a million people had viewed the saved livestream video.

At the end of the service, Senior Sergeant Fleming and her mourners were led into the Nelson sunshine by a piper playing Flowers of the Forest.
The flag draping her coffin was carefully folded and presented to her family by Commissioner Chambers as hundreds of Police and fire service staff lined the road in a guard of honour for her final journey.
Police staff performed a heartfelt haka – the Police haka Ko Te Uru Pounamu, which speaks of harmony between Police and public as the key to safer communities.
It was a fitting farewell to someone who did so much for so many people, and leaves an enduring legacy and example for us all to follow, said NZ Police.