THE STORY BEHIND HERR-RUBS
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Gord Schmidke dubbed "Herr" due to the German roots
of his surname has over the years been known by various nicknames.
"Ginger" due to his sandy coloured hair and his fondness
for ginger-ale. "Praise The Lord Gord" due to his quiet
gentle nature. "Dirty Herr" as a play on the other nickname
and a reference to the movie character played by Clint Eastwood
- Dirty Harry. Gord had the second longest term of service on
our squad behind me having spent 8 years with us. He is a well
liked and respected member of our squad.
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Robin Peoples, a character if ever there was one. Born in
the Stampede city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Robin came to Vancouver
to realize his dream of being a police officer. Very early in
his career, in fact in the academy Robin was dubbed "Barney
Rubble" due to his uncanny resemblance to the cartoon character
of the same name from the animated series "The Flintstones".
Over the years the nickname got shortened to just plain "Rubs".
A likeable and genuinely funny fellow he is also a well respected
member of our squad. He spent his entire career to this point
working with us.
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The two were already good friends and became a solid partnership.
Both were unfortunately ready for a change of scenery. When the
trade was announced the squad got together and gave them each
a going away present and I wrote the poem and presented a signed
copy to each.
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District 2 is a very busy and sometimes dangerous area to
work. Situated in the Downtown-Eastside of Vancouver in one of
the poorest neighbourhoods. District 4 is a somewhat more leisurely
paced area situated in the richest area of Vancouver.