************

There were a few other college students sprinkled through the mix of volunteers at the regular Saturday night session of Citizen’s Crime Watch.  Our job was to be the extra eyes and ears for the police, and even though we drove our personal cars, we were connected to our ‘own’ police officer through a basic radio system plugged into the car’s lighter.  That night I was partnered with Suzanne, a fellow criminology student, and we headed out with a list of problem areas, at the top of which was a few blocks in the downtown core which had been experiencing a rash of theft from autos. We were instructed to keep an eye out for anyone or anything suspicious and report it back to our officer.

A couple of hours and at least one coffee later, Suzanne and I were prowling around parking lots, side streets and multi-tiered parking garages.  If memory serves me correct, her car a very used but relatively reliable Toyota Supra.  Attached to the roof with an industrial strength magnet was an impossibly large antenna, and if nothing else, it made Suzanne’s car look like a giant hybrid insect.  It was not the most covert set-up, but we believed ourselves to be budding sleuths and thought nothing of the obvious communication tower above our heads.

The headlights of Suzanne’s car arced off a cement ramp on our ascent to a roof top parking lot filled with cars.  Suzanne drove slowly and we looked out of our respective windows for anything untoward, my spidey senses telling me something was going to happen.

And something did.

The man was tucked up between two cars.  He was dressed all in black and most of his attention was on the driver’s door handle as he furtively worked the lock.  The passing of our car distracted him for a moment and he snapped upright, looked in our direction and quickly walked around to the back of the car to place himself between the trunk and the cinderblock wall in what appeared to be an effort to conceal himself.

Ever mindful of being spotted, we pretended to ignore him when we drove by and as Suzanne manoeuvred her car into an empty parking stall that afforded an excellent view of our suspected perp.  What we hadn’t considered was that if we had an excellent view of him, then he also had an excellent view of us.  Thinking back, the entire set up was like a bad cop movie where the supposedly covert surveillance is a dark coloured Crown Victoria parked across the street from the gang house.  Yes, it was that bad.

In any event, our perp obviously decided we were not a threat because he moved back around to the door and started to work the lock again.  From our position of ‘concealment’, Suzanne gave me updates that I, in turn, relayed via radio to our Crime Watch police officer:

“He’s got a screwdriver.  He jamming it into the lock on the driver’s door,”  I said.

“What does he look like?” our officer asked.

“He’s a guy, in black clothes, with a screwdriver,” I said.

“What’s the licence plate on the car?” he asked.

I gave it to him, proud of my ability to use the phonetic alphabet.

“Okay, there are other police units on the way.  Try and keep an eye on him until they get there,” he said.

“Alright.  Um, I think he’s seen us,” I said, “He’s walking towards us.”

“Does he still have the screwdriver?”

“Yes.”

At that point, it became clear our ‘perp’ was the owner of the car when he asked if we could call him a tow truck as he had locked his keys in his car.  He waved and walked over, tucking the screwdriver into his back pocket.  I raised the hand holding the radio mic in a reflex return wave, which, unknown to me or Suzanne, pulled the radio connector out of the car’s lighter and cut off our communication with our officer.  Not realizing our officer could no longer hear me, I continued to provide updates that the fellow breaking into the car was probably the owner and that he was quite friendly.  I asked our officer if he would call a tow truck for the man, and it wasn’t until I tried for a third time to elicit a response that I realized the connector had come loose.

I plugged the connector back in, and at about the same time the night came alive with sirens.  Our roof top positioning provided a wonderful view of multiple police cars racing into the block with sirens screaming and red and blues flashing.  I commented that it was too bad we didn’t have a real police scanner to listen to what action was about to unfold before us.  Our perp-turned-fellow-observer agreed and the three of us wondered as to what had drawn such a quick police response.  I got on our Crime Watch radio and asked.

“What’s going on by the parking lot we’re in?  There’s police cars everywhere,” I said.

“You guys is what’s up,” another volunteer answered, “You okay?”

“Yes. What do you mean?”

“We all heard the guy was coming at you with a screwdriver and then your radio went dead.  Officer S. has called out the calvary.”

Uh oh.

Tires screamed on concrete as responding police cars raced up the ramp towards us.  Officer S. appeared in a full out sprint, his gun drawn as he looked everywhere at once.  My heart plummeted to the bottom of my stomach as I considered my future in law enforcement had been as effectively unplugged as my radio connector.

I waved Officer S. off before he tried to deal with our new friend, who was now looking at us with a high level of suspicion and likely wondering what the heck the police wanted with two college kids.  Quickly, I explained what happened and took full responsibility for the technical blunder.  Officer S. first got on his radio to tell all responding police units to stand down, then he holstered his gun, shot Suzanne and me a heated look and leaned over and put his hands on his knees.  He took a couple deep breaths and then told us to never scare him like that again.

We got back into Suzanne’s car and drove down the ‘ramp of shame’ past several backed up police cars.  We were sheepish and embarrassed to have caused such a fuss, and I was trying to make myself as small as possible in the passenger seat to avoid being seen. It was no use.  A couple officers seemed amused, a couple looked down right pissed off, but one officer stopped us before we could make good our escape.

“You the two Crime Watch volunteers?”

We nodded.

“Don’t feel too bad.  At least you’re out here trying to help. And besides, that was the best call of the night so far,” he said, not without a touch of humour.

Relieved, we thanked him.

“Good job on spotting the guy.  Just find a better hiding spot next time,” he said.

************

Suzanne and I had been trying hard and we made a couple of mistakes, the biggest of which was our poor positioning when it came time to watch our suspected theft from auto suspect.  I consider it a mistake versus a poor decision, as we honestly believed we were in the best spot.  A poor decision would have been knowing there was a better hiding spot but not using it out of sheer laziness.

It’s okay to make mistakes – everyone does.  And while there is a difference between poor decisions and mistakes, it is important to define the line between the two.

Mistakes can often be avoided with proper training and preparation.  Mistakes are a great learning tool, as is the humbling experience of making one in the first place.  I’ve been there a time or two, and while my ability to find good hiding spots has improved, I fully realize I am not above making mistakes in the future.  The key is to keep learning from them.

Hopefully others can learn from them, too.

************

Saturday afternoon was the type of day featured on our city’s postcards.  It was sunny and mild, the snow capped Coastal Mountains a perfect backdrop for rollerblading, jogging and enjoying the outdoors.  The streets were busy with cars and people when Citizens’ Crime Watch located a mobile stolen vehicle.

After advising their ‘supervisor’ (an officer in uniform acting as the volunteer’s go-between) of the situation, the officer broadcast the stolen vehicle’s location, licence plate and direction of travel.  Before police units could get into the area, the stolen vehicle parked and the two occupants walked away into a nearby restaurant. 

Units were still trying to get into the area when the two occupants came back to the vehicle only a few moments later.  They got in and started to drive away.  By that time, myself and two other police units were able to intercept the vehicle, and safely boxed it in.

Here’s the thing – I immediately suspected the vehicle wasn’t actually stolen when I went nose-to-nose with it.   Instead of panicking and attempting to flee, the driver shook his head and put his hands in the air, with one hand holding an ice cream cone aloft like a white flag.  The passenger, his hands also in the air, shrugged his shoulders, gave me a sheepish grin, and pointed at his own ice cream cone, as if to say, “But it’s gelato!”

That, ladies and gentlemen, is what I call a ‘clue’.

After removing the gents from their vehicle, we sorted out the details.  Earlier in the week, the driver/owner had reported his vehicle stolen after it was unknowingly seized by a bailiff.  The bailiff got in contact with him and arrangements were made for the vehicle’s return, and the owner never thought to advise police it was not in fact stolen. 

The fellow was amicable about the takedown, and said he now had a story to tell his friends.

Once the vehicle was allowed to proceed, officers at the scene chatted about the call in the way most officers do.  One officer came up to me on the sly saying he had the perfect title for my next blog post-

“You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream For Ice Cream.”

As can be seen from the above quote, volunteer experience is very important if you are looking to become a member of the Vancouver Police Department.  Many of our successful applicants volunteered with Citizens’ Crime Watch - myself included.

Formed in 1986 to give citizens the opportunity to help combat crime in their neighborhoods, Citizens’ Crime Watch (CCW) now has approximately eighty-six volunteers who act as additional eyes and ears for the police. 

From the CCW’s website:

“The volunteers are trained and coordinated by a police constable who will work with the volunteers as they patrol the streets of Vancouver in their own cars. Each car is supplied with an iCom radio so that they are in constant contact with their own base radio operator and the coordinator.  They call in and report any criminal or suspicious activity.

Citizens volunteer their time to provide the police with extra eyes and ears on Vancouver streets on Friday and Saturday nights throughout the year.  CCW members patrol as a team of two using their own vehicle.

Volunteers observe the activity around them.  If they witness something unusual such as an assault, purse snatching or theft from auto in progress, they communicate via iCom radio with the CCW coordinator, who is out on patrol with the volunteer members.  The coordinator will then initiate the appropriate police action.  Much of our recent activities focus on road safety and we deal with issues such as excessive speeding, impaired driving, unsafe driving and others.”

While I was in college, another student in the Criminal Justice Program approached the rest of us with news the VPD’s Citizens’ Crime Watch was looking for more volunteers.  A number of us applied to the program, were accepted, and started volunteering with CCW soon after.  It was a fantastic way to see if policing was the right career, and gave great insight into the workings of the police department.  Even though we, as volunteers, did not have access to police scanners etc, our radio communication with our ‘officer’ kept us in the loop.  We assisted with many calls – a theft from auto in progress, a hit and run (we chased down the suspect vehicle  and held onto the driver as he tried to flee – even though I’m not sure we were supposed to!), and we recovered several stolen cars.  For a college kid, not only was volunteering with CCW a lot if fun, it was very educational.

And sprinkled in amongst the college age crowd were the older participants; a retired teacher, a grandmother/grandfather duo, and a few middle-age folks wanting to make a difference in their community.  It was a great group. It’s still a great group today.

The need for volunteers continues today.  If you are interested in volunteering with the Vancouver Police Department’s Citizens’ Crime Watch, you must be able to meet the following requirements:

• Over 19 years of age
• Have no criminal record
• Be of suitable character
• Possess good driving skills and have access to a vehicle for patrols
• Have good English skills
• Have good observation skills
• Have the ability to assess on-view situations and relay details over the radio

For more information, please go the Citizens’ Crime Watch website, or call (604)717-3349, local 6002