Coquitlam RCMP’s Youth Detail Section is getting a bigger taste of first responder investigations as the COVID-19 pandemic limits their access to schools and community events.
Case-in-point: the recent seizure of over $1,500 in cash, as well as a stack of stolen credit cards and cheques in the arrest of a 37-year-old Port Coquitlam man on fraud charges.
The investigation began after someone found a Driver’s License and handed it in to the detachment’s Youth Detail Section, which usually responds to allegations of sexting or assault in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam schools.
But when one of the officers saw that the licence belonged to an employee of School District 43 — someone they knew — they took control of the investigation.
“We aren’t classified as first responders,” said Const. Deanna Law, who took part in the investigation. “We just flew with it.”
The employee, who had their wallet stolen after they didn’t lock their car, was embarrassed and so didn’t report it to police, said Const. Law.
Once officers found the stolen credit card was used in a couple of locations, they used video surveillance to identify the thief and where he lived.
Coquitlam RCMP executed a search warrant of the man’s home in the 3000 block of Raleigh Street and, in addition to the cash, stolen credit cards and cheques, found “cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and large amounts of drug paraphernalia.” Other stolen property and a replica firearm were also recovered.
Const. Law said it appears breaking into vehicles was the man’s “MO” and that “he’s flown under the radar for a while.”
“Between the catalytic converters and the theft from vehicles, it’s non-stop,” she said, pointing to a surge in theft from vehicles as many people stay home from work due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Like many jobs across the Tri-Cities, the pandemic has affected how Coquitlam RCMP operates. Nowhere is that more apparent than with the seven members of the Youth Detail Section.
With schools and public events shut down for much of the spring, their work — which includes everything from volunteer appreciation dinners to attending reports of crime at schools and doing curfew checks on youth under 24/7 house arrest — was disrupted.
At the same time, Const. Law said she noticed an uptick in certain calls coming in over the radio, including mental health and domestic calls, as well as theft from vehicles.
So the section started taking on other cases usually reserved for first responders at the detachment. Now, as schools get set to reopen, Const. Law said interactions her section of officers would usually have, such as lockdown drills, will be put on hold.
“A lot of parents didn’t want us going,” said Const. Law, who also has daughter in a SD 43 high school.
“We’re looking for work.”
