Slain Vic police honoured with memorial

Melbourne police are still haunted by the murders of two of their colleagues almost 17 years later.

Sunday marks the anniversary of the murders of Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller, fatally shot while on duty investigating a series of robberies in Moorabbin in 1998.

A service will be held by police in Prahran on Friday.

Superintendent Peter Lardner said the role of police was to protect the community and sometimes this put them in harms way.

"Police are not naive regarding the physical risks to which they are exposed. We know the moment a police vehicle goes on patrol, that anything is possible," he said.

"In speaking to those members who were directly associated with Gary and Rod, I can still hear in their voice and see in their eyes the intensity of the sadness that continues to haunt them all these years later."

Sergeant Silk and Sen Const Miller were shot dead by armed robbers Bandali Debs and Jason Roberts during a stake-out on August 16, 1998.