'I didn't say bye to dad on day a robber shot him'

A PC has said he "blamed himself" for years for not saying goodbye to his father, a police officer who was murdered in the line of duty.

To mark National Police Memorial Day at the weekend, PC Dave Bishop, of Essex Police, reflected on his father's death.

In August 1984, PC Brian Bishop was shot by an armed robber in Frinton-on-Sea. He died five days later in hospital.

Dave Bishop was just 10 at the time, and said the pain stayed with him into adulthood.

PC Brian Bishop joined Essex Police in August 1966 and after various roles, went on to join the Force Support Unit (FSU), becoming a firearms instructor.

On 22 August 1984, the FSU was called to Central Avenue in Frinton-on-Sea, following reports a man had robbed two post offices with a sawn-off shotgun.

During a confrontation, PC Brian Bishop was shot in the head by a gun that had been concealed in a carrier bag.

His son said he still had clear memories what followed.

"It was a warm night and our house backed onto a school playing field where there was a party going on. Because of that I couldn’t get to sleep," PC Dave Bishop explained.

“At half ten at night, there’s a knock at the door. Being a nosy 10-year-old, I’m at the top of the stairs.

"I just hear crying and lots of voices. The lounge door was shut."

He was taken to a neighbour's, but returned home after his father had died.

He went back to school between the murder and funeral and was not offered any counselling or additional support.

He described the events following as "surreal" as "everyone in Chelmsford" then knew who he was.

"On the day it happened, dad had come home to get changed and I’d seen him cycle off when I was playing in the back garden," PC Bishop continued.

"I beat myself up and I blamed myself for many years because I never said goodbye.

"That’s why I always make sure I tell my children I love them before I leave the house."

He was keen to join the police after he left school, but his mother, Susan Bishop, talked him out of it.

Mrs Bishop had been an officer herself in Colchester, and did not want to lose her son in a similar way to her husband.

After her retirement, her son decided to put his application in.

"One day I told her I had a new job and she smiled and said, ‘you’ve joined, haven’t you?'

"After that, she took a massive interest in my career.

"Some of dad’s colleagues were still with the force when I joined.

"They’d tell me I was just like dad, which I can only take as a compliment."

Four decades on, he remains in the force.

He believed the public did not "always appreciate the danger that police officers are in on a daily basis".

"Every house we go to, someone could open the door with a knife," he said.

"Every person we stop search could have a weapon.

"What happened to dad and Ian Dibell [an Essex police officer shot dead in 2012] is tragic and incredibly rare, but it could happen to any of us at any time."

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