Welcome to the first edition of the Vancouver Police Department Commercial Crime Prevention Quarterly newsletter. Inside you will find useful tips, information and trends to help keep you, your business and employees safe. There are many ways you can help to prevent and deter crime, and I hope to share valuable information with you to assist in your efforts.

As quickly as new technologies emerge, criminals come up with new ways to defeat them – especially when it comes to computer & internet crime, and debit and credit card frauds.

As a member of the business community, you must be vigilant about not only looking after your physical space, but also your interior space and cyberspace. Knowing how to deter crime from occurring in all three of these areas will significantly help reduce your chances of becoming a victim of crime.

Please contact me at anne.longley@vpd.ca with your comments and questions.

CURRENT ISSUE

n Debit Terminal Hard Drive Data Skimming On the Rise

n Understanding Vagrancy and Trespassing

n Summertime Safety

REGULAR FEATURES

n Meet Your Neighbourhood Police Officer

n Did You Know?

BUSINESS LINkS

Bank of Canada - fraud tips for retailers

www.bankofcanada.ca/en/banknotes/retail.html

Competition Bureau of Canada - fraud and scam information

www.bureaudelaconcurrence.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/h_00122.html

For More InformationPlease Contact:

Constable Anne LongleyBusiness Liaison604-717-2777Email: anne.longley@vpd.ca

by clearing the stored information upon closing every day. Additionally, both the point-of sale terminal and the processing hard drives should be secured.

Debit Terminal Hard Drive Data Skimming On the Rise

A recent cBc neWs story in March highlighted the problem of data card skimming from debit terminal hard drives (CBC MarketPlace - March 12, 2010).

Crafty criminals are breaking into businesses stealing point-of-sale processing hard drives and then downloading the customer information. Credit and debit card information downloaded from the hard drive is then used to make counterfeit credit and debit cards loaded with stolen credit card numbers.

Retailers can help the situation and protect their customer’s information

Cst. Anne Longley

THE VPD COMMERCIAL CRIME PREVENTION QUARTERLY | 1

COMMERCIAL CRIME PREVENTION UARTERLY‘We mean bus iness ’

T H E V A N C O U V E R P O L I C E D E P A R T M E N T W W W . V P D . C A V O L . 1 I S S U E N O . 1 J U N E , 2 0 1 0

THE VPD

Understanding Vagrancy and TrespassingConstABLE KELLy RisEBRough, West End Coal Harbour

Community Policing

2 | THE VPD COMMERCIAL CRIME PREVENTION QUARTERLY

the sAfe streets Act, the Trespass Act and municipal bylaws provide businesses and police officers with valuable remedies when dealing with panhandlers, “squeegee” persons and unwanted trespassers engaged in prohibited activities. Many business owners are unsure what to do in these situations, so I’ve included a summary below, as well as tips of what you need to do to help the police.

1. The Trespass Act gives property owners the right to remove unwanted parties from their property or premise. The Act states:

“A person must not enter or remain in a place, or

engage in a prohibited activity when given notice to

that effect by a person authorized to do so.”

There are three ways for a person to trespass:

a. enter a place that is enclosed land;

b. enter a place after they have had notice from an authorized person that entry is prohibited;

or

c. engage in an activity in or on the premise after having notice from the authorized person that the activity is prohibited.

You can give notice either verbally or in writing, or by a sign posted at or near an ordinary access point which is clearly visible under normal daylight conditions.

For chronic trespass problems you should also prepare the following:

• Haveasignedauthorizationthatprovidesboth security personnel and police the authorization to remove people on your behalf.

• Havean“impactstatement”letterillustrating how this trespassing affects your business. Examples of an impact letter include how your business and staff have been affected, such as lost revenue, staff training, additional security measures, customer intimidation, etc.

Contact Kelly Risebrough of the West End Coal Harbour Community Policing Centre at 604-717-2924 or kelly.risebrough@vpd.ca to discuss your situation and get the required Trespass Act Template.

2. The Safe Streets Act makes it an offence to solicit a person in an aggressive manner that would cause most people to be concerned for their safety or security, or to solicit a person in one of several “captive audience” locations or situations.

As well, a person commits an offence if they obstruct the path of someone, use abusive language or continue to follow someone while soliciting.

3. Vancouver City Bylaw 2849 “Obstructive Solicitation” addresses this problem as well by stating:

(continued on page 4)

THE VPD COMMERCIAL CRIME PREVENTION QUARTERLY | 3

like mAny of you, I always look forward to the end of winter and the warmer weather of summer. However, criminals also look forward to this time of year, as it gives them increased opportunities to commit crimes, both in residential neighbourhoods and business areas.

Opportunistic theft becomes more pervasive when doors are left unlocked and windows left open – both in your home or business and your car. It only takes a second for someone to enter an open garage or car to steal items left in plain sight. When you’re enjoying gardening or recreation in your backyard, do you remember to lock your front door? It’s so easy to leave doors open or unlocked in warm weather, but crooks will be looking for these opportunities to get into your house and quickly steal valuable items before you even know they’ve been there. The same goes for open balcony doors or windows left open at night. Every year we receive reports of cat burglars scaling buildings to enter through open balcony doors – often while the resident is sleeping.

Another common summertime scam is the person looking to perform unscheduled repairs or maintenance in your home or office in order to gain entry. Make sure you ask for identification and get the name and address of the company to check with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) before allowing any work to be done. Do not let anyone into your home if you did not contact them or have checked to see if they are legitimate. More tips and information can be found through the BBB at www.bbb.org.

By taking the time to crime-proof your home, business and car, you’re much less likely to become the victim of an opportunistic summertime theft. Lock your doors and ensure your windows are not easily opened. If you have to leave a door or window open for airflow, make sure there is still a locking mechanism to prevent it from being opened more than a couple of inches. Stop delivery on mail and newspapers if you’re going to be away, and ask a trusted neighbour to keep an eye on your home.

Most of all – enjoy all that summer brings and stay safe!

?DID YOU KNOW?

That property crime in the City •

of Vancouver is down 9% and

commercial break-ins by 20.5%

compared to this time last year?

That the VPD has 10 community •

policing centres throughout the

city able to assist you with your

crime prevention efforts and

information? To find the one

serving your neighbourhood,

please go to www.vancouver.ca/

police/community-policing

That the Vancouver Police •

Department Property Crime

Support Unit runs Operation

Provident which is a pro-active

business-oriented deterrent

program for property theft? The

program is designed to assist

the business community in the

return of stolen goods through a

national numbering system.

For more information go to

www.vancouver.ca/police/crime-

prevention/provident or email

anti-fencing.vpd@vpd.ca.

That you can sign up for the •

VPD’s Neighbourhood Crime Alert

Service with just a postal code

and email address? Go to www.

vpd.ca and click on the link for

Neighbourhood Crime Alert.

summertime sAfety

constABle kelly riseBrough has been assigned to the West End Coal Harbour Community Policing Centre in the central business district since August 2008. She has been a police officer for 4 ½ years, all in the downtown area. Working in this area has shown her how the commitment of the community can make a real difference to those who police it.

“The sense of ownership that people feel means that they do not tolerate crime in their neighbourhood and they are very willing to work alongside police to make their community safer. How can I not absolutely love my job when I drive around the West End talking to folks who are so engaged in their neighbourhood?”

Working in the West End and Coal Harbour poses many challenges due to the high density of the area and the mix of commercial and residential premises. Constable Risebrough

MEET CoNSTABLE kELLy RISEBRoUGh Neighbourhood Police Officer for the West End Coal Harbour community

VA

NC

OUV

ER POLICE DEPARTMEN

T

PROJEC T GRIFFIN

EYE VANCOUVER POLICE DEPARTMENT

WATCHPRoJECT GRIFFINwww.vancouver.ca/police/community-policing/project-griffin.html

EyE WATChwww.vancouver.ca/police/community-policing/business-liaison.html

NEIGHBOURHOOD

SERVICE CR ME ALERT

NEIGhBoRhooD CRIME ALERT SERVICEwww.vpdcrimealerts.ca/

4 THE VPD COMMERCIAL CRIME PREVENTION QUARTERLY

(continued from page 2) “No

person shall stand or loiter on

any street in such a manner as to

obstruct or impede or interfere with

traffic thereon.”

This includes:

• sittingorlyingonastreet which obstructs the

convenient passage of pedestrian traffic;

• continuingtosolicitorharass a pedestrian after being refused;

• andphysicallyapproach and soliciting as a member of a group of three or more.

WHAT TO DO? Contact VPD non-emergency at 604-717-3321 to report any offences under any of the above Acts or bylaws or contact your local community policing centre to assist you if this problem is of a chronic nature for your business.

feels the strong sense of community combined with the efforts of the volunteers at the Community Policing Centre have led to many successes in dealing with problematic issues on a long-term basis. She consistently strives to build relationships with residents and businesses to assist with their crime prevention efforts.

Outside of work, Constable Risebrough spends her time with her

family, including her lovely Golden Doodle, Scout. She also loves playing many sports, hiking and being outdoors.

CoNSTABLE RISEBRoUGh CAN BE REAChED AT:

West End Coal Harbour Community Police Centre604-717-2924 or kelly.risebrough@vpd.ca