MIDDLESBROUGH, Aug. 23 -- The family of Police Constable Matthew Blades had been waiting for the end of his Saturday shift. He was 37 years old, on an overnight patrol along the A66 in northeast England with his colleague Police Constable Tom Clough, who was 38. At 3:39 on Saturday morning, a Volkswagen Passat came down that road on the wrong side. The head-on collision killed everyone at the scene. All seven people across both vehicles died. No one survived.

Cleveland Police confirmed both deaths on Saturday. Chief Constable Victoria Fuller described them as "brave officers who didn't return home to their families." As tributes began arriving from colleagues and the public across the country, Fuller was managing the simultaneous demands...