On January 8th, 1982 Constable Paul Sanghera and his partner were working together. They were on patrol, in a marked police vehicle, in the area of East Vancouver known as District Three. It had snowed that night and a blanket of snow covered the roads, making them slippery and treacherous to drive.
At 1:00 am they stopped to investigate an abandoned vehicle at the side of the road, on the curve at E. 57th and Argyle Street. They both got out of their vehicle, and Constable Sanghera opened the door to examine the vehicle and to look for the registration papers in the glovebox. They stood beside the abandoned vehicle and discussed what to do with the vehicle. It was decided that the other constable would return to their police vehicle and call for a tow truck. As the other constable radioed in requesting a tow truck Constable Sanghera remained beside the abandoned vehicle. Without any warning, a pickup truck suddenly came around the corner and also lost control on the icy street. The truck struck the abandoned vehicle and Constable Sanghera. He died at the scene.
The driver was found not at fault, there were no charges and the accident was blamed on the weather conditions.
Paul Sanghera grew up in Richmond and went to Richmond High School. He was remembered as a tenacious and keen athlete who enjoyed soccer and played on the Vancouver Police Soccer team.
His death is commemorated every year at the Paul Sanghera Soccer Tournament in April.
Paul Sanghera: policeman, son, brother. "We Shall Never Forget You.""All the stories and words on this site were written from the heart, by Sgt. Steve Gibson. They are the result of research and interviews by Cst. Tod Catchpole with families and friends of the officers killed in the line of duty. For the sake of authenticity, the stories appear exactly as written and have not been edited by the site creators. While the Vancouver Police Department stands by the stories, visitors to this site should accept that they may contain minor factual inaccuracies."