STOREKEEPER PAYS IN CASH AND CRACK

A slickly produced police video released Thursday shows scruffy undercover
officers stuffing their backpacks with contraband to sell to local stores
as part of a citywide crackdown on fencing of stolen goods.

In one of the most dramatic scenes in the video, an undercover officer is
seen leaving a store after exchanging five cartons of cigarettes and a
brand new car stereo for $60 and a $20 rock of cocaine.

In the police videotape of the sting, the officer says the store owner
asked for a Pentium 4 laptop computer, but settled for the smokes and the
stereo, still in its box, which he bought for $20.

The merchandise was worth an estimated $700.

The sting operation, dubbed Raven after the bird with a reputation for
stealing bright and valuable objects and taking them back to its nest, was
carried out in October and was aimed at finding out just where those nests
are in Vancouver.

Police now know they're just about anywhere -- convenience stores and
second-hand shops that are particularly in the West End and northeast part
of the city.

Unlike an earlier operation this year, not a single pawnshop was found this
time to be trading in stolen goods. Four pawnshops were visited, apart from
30 other stores targeted.

Raven was a follow-up to Operation Lucille in the spring, a three-month
investigation that led to the closure of two hotel bars, six pawnshops and
two convenience stores.

During Raven, officers visited 30 city businesses believed to be involved
in a flourishing trade in stolen property ranging from cameras to DVDs.

The results left them staggered. In almost every case the store owners were
not only willing to buy stolen goods, but placed orders for more.

But while our officers expressed shock at how the big the problem is, they
are also miffed that unscrupulous owners tried to short-change and rip them
off after negotiating a price for items like Starsky and Hutch DVDs that
still had their plastic covering and price tags attached.

Insp. Ken Frail would not say Thursday what other "bait" items police used,
but revealed that they included specific items officers purchased after
"receiving orders" to steal them. Unclaimed stolen goods that were still in
the possession of police were also used.

Frail said that in a number of instances, female officers were treated as
if they were "runaways" and described the actions of some store owners as
"absolutely predatory," saying they acted friendly to coax the undercover
operators to go out and steal more goods.

A charge of sexual harassment has been laid against one store owner who was
approached by a female officer, he said, refusing to provide further details.

Some officers were taken by surprise when store owners gave them detailed
lists of items they should steal, including advice on which stores stocked
the requested items.

Insp. Bob Rolls, the commander of the VPD's District 2 -- the city's
northeast section -- said the property taken by thieves is obtained from
motor vehicles, homes and by shoplifting all over the Lower Mainland.

"[The goods] are transported to Vancouver, sold in these stores for money,
which is then used to go and purchase drugs."

Frail said if a business is buying an $100 item and giving an addict $5 for
it, the addict would keep returning to feed the habit.

"Think about the shoplifting toll, and theft-from-auto toll and break-ins
that are occurring to feed one person's addiction."

He said that along Hastings Street it is clearly evident that people gather
outside some convenience stores to sell stolen property and buy drugs.

"Every single time that we've taken action and closed [a] business, we've
seen a dramatic improvement in the community," he said, referring to
Operation Lucille.

Referring to the fact that not a single pawnshop was found to be
non-compliant during Operation Raven, Frail said he figures the owners
"smartened up" after the earlier operation.

"We tested them for compliance. We couldn't find any pawn shop that was not
compliant," he said.

A store is compliant when the owner or clerk asks a seller to produce
picture identification and records all details of a transaction, including
a description of the item and price. When asked by police, they have to
provide these details, which can be run against both a local and national
records management system for checks on similar items that have been
reported stolen.

Frail said four stores turned away the undercover officers who were trying
to peddle goods and threatened to call the police, which he said is a good
sign.

Frail said that while no criminal charges are being considered following
the month-long investigations, 30 cases have been sent to city hall for a
review of the licences of the businesses concerned.

SELLING STOLEN PROPERTY A PIECE OF CAKE:

'It is amazing how many businesses in Vancouver not only support property
crime, but encourage it. . . .'

"I was really surprised at how easy it was to sell stolen property . . . As
an undercover operator I had the opportunity to blend into the environment
and ] it really opened my eyes as to how much crime there is."

Christine

"It is amazing how many businesses in Vancouver not only support property
crime but encourage it. Business owners were giving us lists of property
that they wanted and that they knew was stolen. We need to eliminate these
bad businesses if we expect to lower our property crime rate."

Jennifer

"It shocked me how easy it is and how prevalent it is to take advantage of
young, desperate, lonely, naive female street persons. In some instances
food and drinks are provided to befriend street youth, but the intent is
insincere. In some instances the actions of the operator are best described
as predatory."

Rebecca

"Not only were the bad businesses ripping off society, they were short
changing and ripping off our undercover officers."

Roy

"It was amazing to see that many of the premises that I thought were
conducting legitimate business practices were not. It just goes to show how
entrenched the underground economy is."

Shaif

"I found it amazing how quickly some businesses would be to provide lists
of items they wanted undercover operators to steal for them."

Erin