Memorial held for man of ‘impeccable integrity’

A moving memorial service was held on Saturday (February 9) for Paul McKeever, the late chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW).

Following a private funeral the day before, Southwark Cathedral was packed with hundreds of people wishing to publicly pay their respects to a much loved husband and father, friend, colleague and man of huge integrity. They included many chief officers, politicians, family and friends and representatives of the Police Federations of all the UK, as well as other staff associations who worked with Mr McKeever to fight for better terms and conditions for police officers and for members of police staff.

Among those conducting readings were Home Secretary Theresa May, who read Ecclesiastes 3, and Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) President Sir Hugh Orde, who performed a reading of Rudyard Kipling’s If, with Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe leading prayers.

Mr McKeever was a great orator, a skill that rubbed off or was inherited by his wife and daughter as they spoke of his pride in leading and serving his fellow officers, and of the sadness they have in their loss just 14 days before he was due to retire after 35 years dedicated to policing, police officers and the general public.

Clive Chamberlain, the chairman of the Dorset Police Federation and a close friend of Mr McKeever, also read a tribute and painted a picture of a man of enormous humility and who, like the description in Kipling’s If, treated everyone with the same kindness.

Mr Chamberlain said: “Paul was a man of impeccable integrity, unfailingly calm and courteous in all his dealings. His opinions were firmly held but gently expressed, not that he wouldn’t tell it as it was when needed.

“Paul McKeever embodied all the best that a human being can hope to be. Paul had many graces but no airs. We will all miss Paul and long horde his memory.”

Pink Floyd’s The Great Gig in the Sky, one of Mr McKeever’s favourite songs, was played during the service, which concluded with the national anthem.

Following the memorial, Steve Williams, chairman of the PFEW, said: “Today’s service was a fitting way to say goodbye to an incredible police officer, Federation chairman, husband, father and friend.

“The number of people attending the memorial, from the worlds of policing, politics and beyond, is testament to the high regards in which Paul was held across all spectrums of society.

“Paul’s dedication, compassion and sense of humour will forever remain in our hearts.”
Henrietta McKeever said her father would have been “flattered and moved” by the service.

“We are extremely grateful for all the kind messages and gestures of support we have received from friends and colleagues,” she said. “In particular the e-petition (for a QPM) to posthumously recognise the dedication and commitment my father had for the police family.”

Mr McKeever died on January 17 after suffering an embolism just two weeks short of his retirement.

He served with the MPS in Lambeth, policing the Brixton riots in 1981 and 1985, and later in Bromley after promotion to the rank of sergeant, performing a number of different roles. Mr McKeever was elected onto the Federation in 1989, where he championed a number of issues, from health and safety and equality to ensuring the best terms and conditions of service for all those he represented.

Mr McKeever was elected to the position of chairman of the PFEW in May 2008.
Shortly after he was also elected chairman of the Staff Side of the UK Police Negotiating Board on police pay and conditions, representing all police officers in the UK.

He was a trustee to the Police Dependents Trust, chairman of the National Police Memorial Day Trust and a director of the Metropolitan Police Friendly Society, where he chaired the Audit and Finance Committee. A keen hill walker, he took many trips with friends to the Tyrol region of Austria and local walks on the Dow