Superintendent Harris was killed by an IRA bomb that exploded under his car while he was on his way to church with his wife; at the time of his death, he was subdivisional commander of Newcastle, County Down, but due to a serious heart condition was on extended sick leave.
His funeral was attended by thousands of people and brought the town of Lisburn, County Antrim, to a standstill.
While serving in Kilkeel, County Down, Harris had been responsible for the removal from duty of six members of the Royal Marines who had been accused of harassing a Catholic mother of three.
[3] Father Denis Faul, who had passed on the complaints, had been very impressed by Harris, saying that he was exactly the kind of officer on whom a trustworthy police force could be built.
[5] One son, Drew Harris, became a PSNI officer and is the current Garda Commissioner in the Republic of Ireland for the Irish police force.