Advertisement

Vancouver cop goes undercover and finds kindness

Vancouver cop goes undercover and finds kindness

A Vancouver policeman went undercover in a rough part of the city in hopes of catching thieves, but things didn’t go quite as he expected.

Staff Sgt. Mark Horsley masqueraded as a wheelchair user with a brain injury in an attempt to catch those who have been attacking people in wheelchairs since early 2014, reports Metro News.

“I was ready to be victimized,” Horsley admitted at a news conference. “Our plan was just to take whatever the assault or robbery was.”

The veteran cop, who’s been at it since 1986, spent five days in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside posing as a man who was left disabled following a motorcycle accident.

He expected to be robbed. He ended up with $24 more than he came with.

In more than 300 interactions, no one took advantage of him. Two men who had talked to him earlier even came back with pizza. One man closed the zipper of his fanny pack and warned him to be careful. And another man even asked him for his permission to pray for him to heal.

“I was really taken by the politeness, the courteousness,” Horsley said. “The generosity, the caring was inspiring.”

The operation was a “failure” by definition, as there were no arrests made, reports CBC News, but Insp. Howard Chow disagrees.

He says the experience has provided a lesson that police can share with its residents, and Horsley agrees.

“The people of the downtown are always watching. They care and they take care of their vulnerable people.”