Nation pays tribute

DOUG LAING and ROGER MORONEY
Senior Constable Grant Diver, seriously injured but recovering from gunshot wounds, left his Hawke's Bay Hospital bed today to be at the funeral of his mate and colleague, Senior Constable Len Snee.
Special arrangements had been made to get dog handler Mr Diver to the service, a police spokesman said today.
Thousands of people as diverse as the Prime Minister and gang members were expected to gather in Napier today for the funeral.
While Prime Minister John Key's plans to attend were confirmed yesterday, the possibility of gang members paying their respects emerged as one of many gestures overwhelming police in the six days since the Chaucer Rd shooting.
Staff said at one stage a Mongrel Mob member arrived at the counter at the Napier Police Station, handed over a bouquet of flowers, expressed his condolences and told the attendant no one deserved what had happened.
While one staff member told Hawke's Bay Today of the incident, Eastern Police communications manager Kris McGechan said she had also heard of it, along with numerous other acts of support for the city's police.
Commissioner of Police Howard Broad and District Commander Superintendent Sam Hoyle both signed an advertisement appearing in today's Hawke's Bay Today (Page 23) thanking the people of Napier.
Staff will also be thanking the public for the support later in the week.
Ms McGechan said there were so many acts of support, including gifts of food and refreshments for staff both at the station and on duty around the scene, that a list was being compiled so that it could all be recognised.
"We don't want to miss anyone out," she said. For well-known Napier musician Jon Fletcher, being asked by Mr Snee's widow Vicki to play at today's service was an honour. He will accompany singer Riley Kupa on piano for a rendition of How Great Thou Art.
"It is nice to be able to do something for the whanau," Mr Fletcher said.
He was a neighbour of the Snees for a short time when they lived at Te Awanga.
Mr Kupa, who also adds a rugby link through his first cousin Jason Kupa, who like Mr Snee played for Hawke's Bay, went to university with Mr Snee's son Joe and plays for the Havelock North club alongside him.
Mr Kupa's parents, described by Mr Fletcher as fine singers also, are from Central Hawke's Bay and know the wider Snee family well.
The level of support for police surrounding today's funeral, starting at 1pm in the Municipal Theatre, was obvious by late-morning.
People started gathering from the time Tennyson St was closed to traffic at 11am.
Among dignitaries expected to join family and Napier Police were Minister of Police Judith Collins and Minister of Maori Affairs Dr Pita Sharples, who like Mr Snee, hails from Takapau in Central Hawke's Bay.
Others included MPs, mayors, All Blacks and rugby mates, Commissioner Broad, Police Association chief Greg O'Connor, and armed offender and dog squad members from throughout the country.
Eight police officers have travelled from different states in Australia, including New South Wales Assistant Commissioner Frank Menilli.
A former colleague who arrived from Nelson yesterday was retired former sergeant Ash Smith, who went through training with Mr Snee at Trentham in the September-December wing of 1976.
While Mr Snee was initially posted to Porirua, the two spent many years working together in Napier and Taradale. Unable to be present were the two others shot by gunman Jan Molenaar - senior constable Bruce Miller, who is in a critical but stable condition in Hawke's Bay Hospital and civilian Lenny Holmwood, who was removed from the critical list yesterday but was still described as seriously ill.