Portland Officer Committed "Crimes" as WW Intern

Portland Police Officer Josh Silverman was formally introduced this week by the police bureau as a new member of the Behavioral Health Unit, where officers are paired with social workers to proactively deal with the mentally ill.

Silverman was featured in a December 2012 WW cover story detailing how police interact with those in mental health crisis when they first encounter them on the streets, and what the city's $5 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice might change in those first 30 seconds.

During our ride along with him in East Precinct, Silverman, 28, let it slip that he used to be a WW intern.

So we had to see what he was up to. Turns out, the officer's most famous act while working here was stealing his own bike. In "Steal This Bike," Silverman stole his own mountain bike seven times in downtown and Portland State University, to see how people might respond to someone who looked like a bike thief.

No one stopped him or called police. One guy did offer to help him cut the chain.

He's been watched close to 65,000 times doing it on YouTube:

Glad to see Silverman's on the straight-and-narrow.

WWeek 2015

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