In between reliving great calls and talking about last night’s events (it was busy enough to keep four dog teams hopping), we agreed that a lot of our success comes down to being in the right place at the right time.  Sometimes sheer luck puts us in the honey spot, but most of the time it’s because as a police officer, you have to think like a crook to catch one.  You have to get out there and actively hunt criminals, which means learning everything you can about them. 

Crime trends, where the local crack shacks are located, knowing where so-and-so’s mom lives, where his girlfriend lives, what types of cars are stolen with the highest frequency, how bad guys flee crime scenes – it all comes down to thinking the way a bad guy does.  If you can do this, it gets easier to find the time to be in the right place.

Like last night. 

There was a shooting with a bb gun and the suspect fled the scene on foot.  After hearing the description I didn’t race into the scene, instead I went to where I had the highest likelihood of spotting the suspect.  A few minutes later he appeared in the block, and presto – one in custody.  Mind you, a good physical description helps and this suspect might as well have been wearing pink bunny ears – he was described as wearing fishnet gloves, and last time I checked not many fella’s have that item in their wardrobe.

Later in the shift a citizen called in to report a suspicious vehicle skulking around.  The citizen turned out to be a great witness, managing to get the plate of the vehicle as it drove away and dispatch advised the vehicle was on file as stolen. 

A short time later, after having gotten into the mind of a crook and been able to think of where the stolen vehicle might be, another dog handler located the stolen as it drove through another area, clearly casing houses and cars.  The incident ended with the driver being taken into custody by one dog team, and the passenger, who thought it would be a good idea to vacate the scene tout de suite, being taken into custody a short distance away by another dog team.

This case is a great example of knowing how bad guys think and of actively putting that knowledge to work.  Would the dog handler have located the stolen if he had simply driven around aimlessly?  Maybe, but more likely not – you can miss entire events if you drive around with your blinders on. 

The dog handler went out and hunted for the bad guy, which is why he found himself in the honey spot.

The darkness turns everything surreal, and as long as you stay away from the streets of rhythm and dance in the entertainment district, you can feel how big the city is.  For those of us who work night shift, it is a time like no other.  When the hunting is good, as we say in the policing world, when the only ones on the streets are cops and robbers.  

And newspaper delivery drivers.

On more than one occassion I have been convinced I have a ‘dumped stolen’ when the car in front of me makes an abrupt stop and the driver flings the door open and runs across the street. 

It happened again last night, and it was only when I saw the newspaper in the driver’s hand did my own hand come off the handle that could have released my police dog.  The driver trotted back to his vehicle with a wave, not realising he had given a near perfect demonstration on what a car thief looks like when they ditch a stolen car and make a run for it.

Be still my beating heart.

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.”

Take the group of police officers who form the Odd Squad Productions.  These officers obviously care deeply about the community they serve, and they made the decision to give back.  An exerpt from their website gives some of their history:

“In March 1998, seven Vancouver City Police Officers, all working the Downtown Eastside beat, an area with an international reputation for its street open drug scene, decided to embark on an educational video for youth on drug abuse. With a common agreement that there was a paucity of reality-based educational videos available for youth, Odd Squad created a Mission Statement: to ‘educate the public on issues affecting the community’. Odd Squad Productions was registered as a non-profit society andeach member contributed money to help fund the purchase of a video camera. Camera in hand, the officers then secured permission from the Vancouver Police Department to film while on duty. With the willing participation of the individuals profiled, they immediately began video taping the disturbing lives of this core group of street-entrenched drug addicts on their beat. Little did they know it, but this work was to later become the National Film Board of Canada’s most successful documentary since its inception in 1939.”  – Odd Squad Productions

I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside most of the original members of the Odd Squad – at the time of its inception, Toby Hinton and Dave Kolb were constables on my patrol team, and Len Hollingsworth (now with the Victoria PD) was my patrol partner.  Mark Steinkampf and Walt McKay were always around.  Al Arsenault was, and is, a powerful force to be reckoned with.  When I speak of an officer’s sense of duty remaining with them even after they’ve retired their badge, I speak of Al.  All are respected both by their peers and by the residents of the Downtown Eastside. 

Since those early days, the Odd Squad has produced several documentaries.  Through a Blue Lens, Tears for April, Stolen Lives and Scathed all touch on issues that should be a concern for all of us.  Drug use, and how it can destroy a persons soul.  A life of crime, and how it is so incredibly difficult it is for a person to reclaim their lost years.  The struggle of those left behind after crime has claimed a loved one. 

The Odd Squad site is a worth a look, and if can get your hands on one of the above mentioned videos, I would recommend you watch it.  Especially if you have teen-aged children.

But not for long.

In his haste to try and get rid of the stolen van, John tried to abandon it.   In doing so, he made his second bad decision of the night - the lane John chose to dump the van in was adjacent to the police station. 

Two different officers coming on shift saw John as he parked the stolen van, and they attempted to arrest him.  Without radios (they had not yet picked up their radios or police car) they had no way of knowing John had just fled from a traffic stop. John was able to drive away, this time dragging one of the officers for a short distance.  As he raced out of the lane, John’s decision making entered the ’bad things happen in three’s’ realm when he narrowly avoided t-boning the police car that had originally spotted him.

So ensued another brief pursuit.  The officers in the police car were again instructed to stop pursuing (at this point, no one knew John had dragged another officer or that the on-foot guys had tried to arrest him), and John was able to get away. Again.

As this was all happening, PSD Hondo and I were driving into the area to see if we could be of assistance.  When the pursuit was terminated a second time, the police unit broadcast that John was last seen headed in my direction.  I pulled over, turned my headlights off, and sat there in my unmarked SUV.  I heard John before I saw him; the sound was similar to that of the space shuttle on takeoff, and I knew he was getting close. 

John blipped passed me at more than double the speed limit, barely in control of the van as he careened down the street and through a stop sign.  Then John proved his driving prowess by augering the van into the back of a construction trailer parked on the side of the road.  In an impressive explosion of smoke and debris the van literally flew through the air, coming to rest another half a block down.  The entire front end was gone, the wheels were angled to all points of the compass, and I was already driving towards the wreckage anticipating a fatality when the driver’s door popped open and John jumped out, uninjured.  It was proof again that somehow, these guys are able to survive accidents that would otherwise kill an innocent bystander. 

John tried to make a run for it, looking back at me over his shoulder while brandishing a can of bear spray.  Bad decision number four.

I yelled at him to stop or the police dog would be sent.  John kept on running.  Yup, you got it…that’s number five.

And so, John got a fast and hard lesson on the Law of Cause and Effect when he discovered the four paws of a police dog are much quicker than the two feet of a fleeing suspect.