STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – Police in Sterling Heights let a 7-year-old boy experience his dream when they swore him in as an officer on Thursday (Sept. 9).
Rainbow Connection helped make the event happen. It’s a nonprofit that has been making wishes come true for children from Michigan with medical conditions for the last 35 years.
Asher Vanderhovel was born with a heart condition and he has gone through five open heart surgeries. Ever since Asher was adopted from China in 2017 he has dreamed of being a police officer.
On Thursday that dream came true. His mother, Jaime Vanderhovel took him to the Sterling Heights Police Department to be sworn in as a junior officer.
The department pulled out all of the stops for Asher to fulfill his Rainbow Connection wish, including giving him a new police bike and a ride in the SWAT vehicle.
“As much as Ash was excited about it, you can see the look on you know, the 30 different officers that came out this morning. We have to deal with people in their worst possible moment, so to be here with a little boy that’s just on cloud nine -- this is great for our officers,” Sterling Heights Police chief Dale Dwojakowski said.
Asher also got to go for a flight in a police helicopter from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.