Civic service honours hard-working and fun-loving Northamptonshire police officer who died in the line of duty ‘doing the job he loved’
More than 200 people attended a deeply moving civic service to remember the life of Northamptonshire Police Constable Faizaan Najeeb – including 17 members of his family.
Faizaan – known affectionately as “Fuzz” to friends and colleagues – died last September, a week after he was critically injured in a road traffic collision.
The 24-year-old was the first officer in the force to die in the execution of his duty since 1991.
On Saturday, Northampton’s Guildhall hosted a civic service to honour him with many members of his family joining the commemoration service.
Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet told the service: “This force has lost one of its true characters – a good, hard-working and fun-loving constable who had his life and career ahead of him. We struggle with it and how you, his family, must also struggle.
“We are one family in this hall – Faizaan’s family – 17 of them are here today. Then there’s his police family. And then there is the family that is Northamptonshire – our county, a whole host of different people, many of whom won’t have known Faizaan but will feel our loss, share our suffering and want to give thanks for all that he did and meant to Northamptonshire and the public
“The whole family suffers together and is diminished by this loss.”
The service was led by Sam Dobbs, chairman of the Northamptonshire Police Federation, on behalf of the chief constable, and attended by many of the police officers who served alongside him in Wellingborough.
There were readings from Danielle Stone, the police, fire and crime commissioner, Sophia Parveen, co-chair of the Association of Muslim Police, and local policing commander Supt Rachael Handford. There were further readings from James Watson, Lord-Lieutenant for Northamptonshire, and the county’s High Sheriff, Roger Butler.
In another poignant tribute, Chief Supt Hillery, head of local policing, said: “Fuzz died doing the job he loved, doing what he believed in, protecting others and serving his community. His death is a stark reminder of the risks that police officers accept every time they put on the uniform.”
His speech was followed by a video capturing some happy memories and emotional tributes from members of Team 3 in Wellingborough who worked alongside Faizaan.
The service concluded with attendees lighting blue and white candles before a final act of dedication led by Tiff Lynch, national chair of the Police Federation.
As the police standard was raised for the final time in his honour, Faizaan’s helmet was presented to his 10-year-old cousin Yusha by the chief constable.
Speaking afterwards, Sam Dobbs said the force had ‘pulled out all the stops’ to put on an inclusive and touching tribute to the late young officer.
He said: “We have worked so closely with the family over the course of many weeks to ensure the service – the formal police tribute to Faizaan – was a worthy commemoration of his life. There are many, many people who helped in different ways to organise the civic service and, on behalf of the chief, I would like to thank all of those involved for what turned out to be a beautiful event.”