From "Beyond The Call: Celebrating Outstanding Achievements of the Men and Women of the VPD", Vol 5, No. 1 - January 29, 2009:
Dramatic Bridge Incident Ends Safely For All
Officers' compassion and courage make the difference.
The sun was directly overhead and the temperature was climbing past 30 degrees Celsius on a sunny Canada Day in 2008. Traffic was heavy on the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge. At first glance it seemed like a normal summer day, but before the afternoon was out a group of police officers would risk everything, a city would be divided in anger, and a life would hang in the balance.
Just past noon, police saw a woman who was visibly distraught standing on the sidewalk midspan on the bridge. When they approached her, she climbed over the railing. She perched precariously on three parallel cables, reaching up and behind her to hold on with one free hand. There was nothing beneath her. If she released her grip she would fall to her certain death.
Negotiators were called in, along with members of the Emergency Response Team, the Marine Squad and the Coast Guard.
Traffic was halted in both directions. This reduced the risk of her being dislodged by vibrations on the bridge deck and allowed negotiators to be heard without shouting over the roar of traffic.
"I made a decision to stop all the traffic because she was speaking in such a low voice that we couldn't hear her," said Inspector Bob Chapman. "I was well aware that it was Canada Day, but we were determined to save her life."
Constables Lawrence Carlson, Linda Stewart and Graham MacDonald continued to talk to the woman for more than five hours in the stifling heat, while hundreds of motorists fumed. As the day wore on, the woman refused offers of water and concern grew that she would simply fall from exhaustion.
As the woman became increasingly despondent, the negotiators knew that time was running out. While Constable Carlson distracted her, Constable MacDonald reached through the railing and grabbed her arm. ERT members rushed in, anchored themselves to their vehicle, and went over the railing to assist and pull her to safety.
While a life was saved that day, the rescue would prove to be a controversial one, with city residents divided in the ensuing debate over whether the bridge closure was necessary.
There was no debate among the grateful friends and relatives of the woman who was taken safely to hospital that day.
"We gave that lady another chance at life. We gave her a chance to go home to her family and her nine-year-old son. We saved her life," said Inspector Chapman.
For outstanding bravery and professionalism, the following members were awarded the Chief Constable's Unit Citation: Constables Lawrence Carlson, Graham MacDonald, Linda Stewart, Marco Veronesi, James Flewelling, Francis Aquino, Justin Leung [!!!], Shawn Hardman, Warren Tutkaluke, John Crawford, Tony Blouin, Kyle Furness, Acting Sergeant Jason High, Sergeant Steve Eely, and Inspectors Bob Chapman and Daryl Wiebe.
(Beyond The Call is a publication produced by the men and women of the Vancouver Police Department's Public Affairs Section.)
So I went to an award ceremony today. Lots of commendations for lots of people. My brother - as you probably noticed - got one. Awesomely enough, his girlfriend got one too (plus her cool picture in the paper in the 2007 issue of "Beyond The Call"):
Police Arrest Armed Men In Crowded Restaurant
Guns seized, no shots are fired.
Gangs, guns and restaurants. They shouldn't go together, but all too often they do.
Just after midnight on a summer night in 2006, Constables Michael Wheeler, Keith Biln and Samantha Jacob[!!!] were standing outside an east end restaurant when a patron ran up to them and said that he had been confronted by a man in the washroom who pointed a gun at his head.
The officers knew they were facing a dangerous and possibly deadly situation. Their first thoughts were for the safety of the patrons in the crowded restaurant. They knew the gunman was high and that he wasn't alone. He was sitting at a table with five other rowdy males.
While Constable Jacob stood guard at the door, Constables Biln and Wheeler moved in. The man had no intention of going quietly. As he resisted, his coat fell open revealing a gun in his waistband. He tried to grab it, but failed. The three officers held him and his friends until other unites arrived.
They recovered a loaded 9mm handgun from the suspect, found a second gun in the booth and a third in a car outside.
For their quick thinking and calm actions in preventing armed drunks from posing further risks to patrons in a crowded restaurant, Constables Michael Wheeler, Keith Biln and Samantha Jacob were awarded the Chief Constable's Unit Citation.
And I know these people on a personal basis. How cool is that?
Along with those two unit citations, there was also one given to the many, many individuals involved in rescuing college student Graham McMynn (who was kidnapped for 8 days in a very high profile case in 2006), a police sergeant who solved a particular justice system loophole that allowed criminals to escape convictions by skipping town, and even a K9 unit (both Constable and German Shepherd came to the ceremony - "Bear" got a vicious rubdown from the Mayor of Vancouver, no less). Lots of amazing stories today . . . well, yesterday. But still.
If anyone's curious about this "Beyond The Call" newsletter I've been plagiarizing this post, the one from today/yesterday can be found in PDF form here (my brother's thing starts on page 3).
Also, Sam's article (along with her noticeably awesome photo) can be found in the 2007 issue, on page 3
Finally . . . in case I haven't bragged about my brother enough for one post . . . he actually got a different unit citation last year for a whole other thing that happened. That story can be found on page 2 of the 2008 issue.
So to recap:
- No good deed goes unpunished.
- Police dogs are extremely happy individuals when they get awards.
- I freakin' love having a cop for a brother.
I'll post pictures as soon as someone sends some my way.
