A White Rock resident was one of 70 former police officers honoured by the Vancouver Police Department.
Rob Hannaford said last week week he was surprised when he got the call from VPD chief, Jim Chu, informing him about the awards ceremony on Sept. 15 at the former Vanoc building at Boundary Road and Gravely Street, which will soon be the new headquarters for the VPD.
Hannaford, who was an officer with the VPD for 14 years, received a medal for outstanding service to the community and another for valour.
The latter award was to commemorate Hannaford’s work during an armed bank robbery.
“They took down three tellers, and my partner and I arrested the men and recovered the gun and the money,” said Hannaford. “I was quite honoured that they remembered that. Chief Chu seems to have a knack for remembering members of the force.”
In 1988, Hannaford left the VPD to work as a private investigator for ICBC until he obtained his real estate licence in August 1989.
“It’s a very, very easy transition. I’m still following up on leads, except they’re called referrals and this time, the customer is always right, whereas before, they were usually wrong.”