In a back room at the East Precinct of the Portland Police Bureau, a detective in pink glasses giggles as she tries to contain a manila file that is spewing its contents.

"My file fell apart because it’s so big," she said.

Pandra Parks is the detective; she focuses on property crooks and drug users, including the man whose picture she has pulled out of that over full file.

His name is Courtney Barnes.

"He looks like a white trash version of Fabio," she said.

KGW photo

The detective says Barnes had no permanent home, but spent most of his time in Vancouver. But she says he committed most of his crimes in Portland.

"So he would break into all these hotels in Portland,” she said, “and steal credit cards and lap tops and luggage, what ever he could get, load up his car then go to Vancouver and use the credit cards and sell the property," detective Parks said.

Because its so hard for Portland cops to arrest crooks in Vancouver, Parks and her partner Scott Pitton waited until Barnes crossed back into Portland, then arrested him stealing from yet another hotel.

The detectives say Barnes is one of many who steal on the Oregon side of the river, then dash back to the Washington side.

It’s a good place to hide.

As we ride across the Interstate Bridge with the detectives, they explain why it’s so hard to operate in Vancouver.

In Portland, the detectives can question a suspect, develop probable cause on the spot and make an arrest immediately.

In Vancouver, because the crime happened in another state, those same detectives can question the suspect, but they must then write an affidavit for an arrest warrant, get a Clark County judge to issue the warrant, then get the warrant to a Vancouver police officer, who tries to make the arrest.

In the meantime, the suspect can be long gone.

Why can’t the Portland detectives get authorized to immediately arrest the Vancouver suspect?

Legal red tape, bureaucratic hoops and practical safety worries.

Portland Police Sergeant Brian Schmautz says it could be dangerous for Portland cops to arrest crooks on the other side of the river, in part because the radios of the two police agencies do not work together.

"I may end up in a situation where I have to call for cover and I don’t have the radio I need, people don’t know me and if I end up in the situation where I need cover quickly, I don’t have the communication and the capacity to get it done," said Schmautz.

Some Portland police officers ‘are’ authorized to make arrests in Clark County---but Schmautz says they almost always team up with the local police.

The hassle of arresting crooks in Washington for Oregon property crimes frustrates detectives on both sides of the Columbia.

The river might as well be the border of a foreign country.

Just ask Vancouver Police detective Jim Watson.

"They can’t pursue him, they can't arrest him, so basically all they can do is be like an average citizen and make a 91-1 call," said Watson.

He tries to coordinate with Parks and Pitton but says the crooks are aware it’s easy to steal in Oregon then run from the police back across the border.

“They know. They know. The first thing they do, as soon as they commit the crime is they start racing for the bridge," he said.

Watson and the Portland detectives think their agencies should do what ever it takes to let Portland cops operate the same way on both sides of the river.

"I’m sorry,” said Watson with a smile, “how much sense would that make? That would make perfect sense!" he said.