ON December 13, the Delta Police Street Crime Unit was conducting a “Boost and Bust” project at Tsawwassen Mills / Tsawwassen Commons. Around 4 p.m., a loss prevention officer in a large department store observed a woman pick up a wallet from a shopping cart of a customer.

This information was communicated by the loss prevention officer to police who were already on scene for the project. Police quickly arrived to observe the woman exit the store, and get into a vehicle. They pulled the vehicle over, and arrested the alleged thief.

“These ‘Boost and Bust’ projects are a joint venture between Delta Police Officers, Tsawwassen Mills and Commons security and individual loss prevention officers,” says Cris Leykauf, spokesperson for Delta Police. “They’re conducted regularly throughout the year to make sure our officers have excellent knowledge of the area, and they’re also a great way for us to build relationships with businesses.”

During operations such as this, police work in cooperation with mall security in both an overt and covert capacity. They saturate the mall and surrounding area in order to detect persons who are either committing criminal offences, or who are known to be wanted on arrest warrants, and then safely arrest the suspects.

Angela Richards, 40, of Vancouver, has now been charged with theft under $5,000. She is considered a prolific property crime offender, and was remanded into police custody.