The large number of people wishing to pay their respects at the funeral today of Sharon Beshenivsky is a measure of the huge impact her murder had far beyond Bradford.

People wanted to be there partly because she was a vivacious young woman, so well-thought-of by all who met her or worked with her, who was cut down so close to the start of what promised to be a very rewarding new career; partly because of the awful timing of her death, on the fourth birthday of her daughter Lydia, when the family should have been celebrating.

They wanted to be there, too, because they were affected by the shockwaves caused by her brutal killing as she went to pursue what seemed initially to be just another routine investigation into a personal alarm call. And they wanted to be there because WPC Beshenivsky's death made people aware of just what terrible risks the police are expected to take as they go about their daily work of maintaining law and order and they wanted to demonstrate their support for the force.

The murder of this Bradford mother-of-five has brought police and public closer together after a long period during which it seemed they were drifting apart.

Had she lived, Sharon Beshenivsky would undoubtedly have made a significant contribution to the community. She had already begun to do so. In death she has also made an important contribution, by helping to forge a new sense of unity between the public and the police, and renewing respect for the work that officers so in a world which seems increasingly perilous.