The VPD’s mounted squad took action during the 2011 Stanley Cup riot.
Photograph by: Dan Toulgoet, Vancouver Courier
The Vancouver Police Department will soon add two new horses to its mounted squad and one will be named after… a major retail chain known for its electronic goods?
London Drugs has donated $7,000 to the Vancouver Police Foundation with the understanding the money be distributed to the VPD’s mounted squad.
In honour of the donation, which will also be used to buy a power washer for the squad’s barn at Stanley Park, the VPD decided it will name one of the horses “London.”
But before the public thinks the VPD is embarking on a marketing drive to name its police service animals after corporate donors, Const. Lindsey Houghton, a VPD media relations officer, said that’s not the case.
“There was no expectation of us naming the horse after the company, the president or anything like that,” Houghton told the Courier. “The mounted squad thought the name London was actually a pretty good name for a horse.”
The $7,000 from London Drugs came from a fundraising campaign the retail chain launched after the June 15 Stanley Cup riot to thank police for their efforts that night and support the Vancouver Police Foundation. The campaign involved the sale of “I love Vancouver” T-shirts and donations from the public.
The London Drugs store at Granville and Georgia was ransacked and looted during the riot, causing $650,000 in damage. Employees were forced to hide in a reinforced steel room in the store.
“I will always be grateful that the police were able to save our staff,” said Wynne Powell, the CEO of London Drugs. “They took some time to respond because of the terrible night that they were dealing with. But when they came, they came in force and they got our people out safely.”
Powell said the money was given to the mounted squad after a discussion with the Vancouver Police Foundation on how best to use the money.
“They brought up the horse idea and that was very comfortable with us because the horses were one of the assets that were extremely helpful at protecting people during the riot,” he said.
The VPD recently purchased “London” but Houghton didn’t immediately know the cost. The VPD also purchased London’s brother, who has yet to be given a name. Both horses are undergoing training and expected to be on the job in January.
So what’s Powell think about the VPD naming one of the horses London?
“It’s fantastic,” he said, echoing Houghton’s comments there was no expectation the horse be named after the company. “I’m just delighted they’re doing that. That will be a horse that will remind everybody about their generosity.”
Private donations to the VPD and its foundation are not new.
In the past year, the VPD accepted $30,000 from private citizen Tony Elwood to be used for the department’s diversity and aboriginal policing section.
The Aboriginal Community Center Employment Services Society also donated $20,000 to pay for the wages of three aboriginal people involved in the VPD’s aboriginal cadet program.
The VPD accepted eight tactical vests worth a total of $20,000 from ArmorWorks Canada Limited and the Vancouver Police Foundation raised $72,000 toward the construction of a “Memorial Wall” for fallen officers at the Graveley Street police station
