Vancouver Police Department shuts down a block of West Pender Street

When you see police cars all over the place, it's natural to conclude that something bad might have occurred.

This was my perception in the noon hour when I saw officers scurrying to close a block of West Pender Street between Richards and Seymour.

It looked like the trouble was centred on the southern side of the street because at first, pedestrians were permitted to walk along the northern sidewalk.

But after a few minutes, even the northern sidewalk of West Pender was closed.

Police cars were visible in the east and west alleys between West Pender and Dunsmuir streets. There were several other police vehicles along West Pender and on Richards.

There was also an ambulance on the southwest corner of Richards Street, but paramedics remained in their vehicle, which seemed like an ominous sign.

I returned to the office and left a message with the Vancouver police media-relations department to find out what happened.

It turned out that a man was about to harm himself, but officers were able to take him into custody before anything terrible occurred.

For the VPD, this is just another day at the office—even though it seemed far more dramatic to passersby who remained on the sidewalk to find out what all the fuss was about.