Officers show kindness to a man in need

Two OPS officers helped a man in an unusual way. 

They were patrolling in the west end of the city around 7 am on May 27 when they were dispatched to a business on Strandherd Road. A concerned citizen reported a man wandering aimlessly in the parking lot with no shoes, socks or shirt. 

“He wasn’t happy to see us,” said one of the officers, who joined the OPS two years ago. “He was uncooperative and when we offered to take him to a shelter, he refused with a few expletives.” 

The man wasn’t breaking any laws and there were no grounds for the officers to arrest him, so they had no choice but to leave him be.

Around 9 am that day, police received another call about a man matching the same description, this time in the area of Greenbank Road and Berrigan Drive.

The same two officers were dispatched. “This time, he was more cooperative,” said the second officer, who was hired by OPS in 2019. “He asked us to take him to a store on Baseline Road so he could cash a cheque and buy some clothes.” 

The officers gave the man a ride and they assessed his mental state on the way.

 “There were some issues,” said the first officer, “but his biggest problem was that he could not enter the store to cash his cheque because of the way he was dressed.”

The officers went into a nearby store and purchased the man a shirt, socks and shoes.

He was grateful and vowed to pay them back once he got his cheque cashed.

The officers refused payment, and after ensuring the man had somewhere to go afterwards, they continued on their patrols.

“This man wasn’t breaking any laws, but kudos to the public for calling us so we could check it out,” said the first officer. “We were able to find out what the actual problem was and solve it before it escalated into something potentially serious.” 

Both officers preferred not to be identified. They simply wanted to help someone with a pretty basic need that most of us never have to think twice about and encourage this type of reporting.