The slogan, and policy, of the Delta police is "no call too small." To me that means they will respond to any criminal act regardless of the size of the loss involved. A couple of weeks ago, I got to see the policy in action.
I was on my way home from the Point Roberts marina where I had fought another battle with blackberry-eating birds that think my boat makes a great open-air lavatory. After clearing the border, I pulled over to call my wife to inform her I was on my way.
Starting up again, I just threw my iPhone in the console next to my Nexus card - it being too difficult to put them in a pocket while sitting belted into a vehicle.
When I returned home, I remembered my Nexus card but inexplicably didn't grab my phone. The next morning when I got in the car, the glove compartment was open as
was the holder for the garage door opener. It was obvious someone had rifled through the vehicle.
So what was missing? Did a quick inventory: cell phone, Blackberry, wallet, passport and Nexus card were safe in the house. But the iPhone was nowhere to be found. Oh well, I thought, it was locked and I still had a cell phone and an old Blackberry. Also, the iPhone was a 5, not a spanking new 6. I would just learn my lesson and carry on.
My wife, however, insisted I report the loss. In our house, a "wife insistence" carries the weight of a Royal Proclamation. So it was off to the Delta police station to record my minor loss. When I reported the incident, I was told some crook had a busy night as mine was not the only car illegally entered.
The good news was they thought they had the perpetrator in custody. At the end of a long evening of rifling through cars, the crook(s) decided to steal a car and drive home to Surrey. So not only is there medical tourism and volunteer tourism, but also criminal tourism that operates on the offpeak hours. This is probably not something Tourism Delta wants to promote.
One problem ruined the trip for the visiting crooks though - the car they stole had On Star technology and could be traced. Between the Delta police and the Surrey RCMP, they tracked down the vehicle and arrested the occupants. Good news but I still thought my iPhone was gone for good. Next day, however, we got a message that they had my iPhone and I could pick it up. So it was off to Surrey the next day to be reconnected with my unit.
Lessons learned? One: Small calls are important. Your episode could be, and probably is, part of a larger criminal activity.
Two: If your car is burglarized, don't drive away in it before notifying the police. You could be destroying possible forensic evidence. I, of course, drove the scene of the crime to the police station and did just that. The officer was quite understanding.
Three: Do a pre-bed check of important stuff that generally travels with you to ensure nothing has been left in the car. (I have to do that before I leave the office as well.)
Four: Listen to my wife. She is almost invariably right - well, except for financial matters.
