The FBI had Donnie Brasco, the undercover agent who infiltrated the mob. Maplewood police have “Homeless Harry” — my moniker for the undercover cop who last weekend bagged a completely different kind of outlaw. Let me explain.

Blake Elfstrom, 22, of Maplewood, was driving his girlfriend home late Sunday morning. He was the fourth car at a stop sign before turning onto westbound Minnesota 36 from northbound McKnight Road in North St. Paul.

That was when he spotted a shabbily dressed, middle-aged man wearing glasses that seemed too big for his face. The man, who turned out to be Maplewood cop Paul Bartz, was holding up a sign — “Will work for food” — as he approached and looked inside the line of waiting vehicles.

Elfstrom was pondering whether to roll down his window when he saw the cars moving ahead of him. He entered the on-ramp, only to be waved to the side of the road moments later by one of several uniformed cops standing near a line of patrol cars.

He asked the cop why he was being pulled over. The officer told him his girlfriend was in violation of a 9-month-old law that gives Minnesota law enforcement the authority to pull over drivers and occupants for not wearing seat belts.

“How in the world did you know?” Elfstrom asked the ticketing officer.

“That homeless guy back there? He’s an officer,” the cop replied.

“I saw about 10 other cars pulled over as he wrote out the (summons),” said Elfstrom, who recently graduated from college. “Yes, I was quite surprised by it.”

Elfstrom’s girlfriend was tagged for $108 — the state-mandated $25 fine for a first-time offender, plus the $75 the law allows as a petty-misdemeanor surcharge fee — repeat after me: this is not a tax, it’s a fee — that goes into the state general fund. The remaining $8 — repeat again: it’s not a tax, it’s a fee — goes to fund law libraries.

TAKING IT TOO FAR?

Bartz, as well as “Homeless Harriet,” his unidentified female North St. Paul police counterpart working the eastbound ramp of Minnesota 36 at McKnight Road, were prolific in nabbing unsuspecting violators.

Officers from Maplewood, North St. Paul, the Ramsey County sheriff’s office and the State Patrol issued 122 citations during the 3 1/2-hour operation, according to Dave Kvam, Maplewood’s deputy police chief.

The vast majority of tickets — 103 — were for not wearing seat belts. Two involved child-seat restraint violations. Three were for license revocation or suspension penalties. Six involved motorists with no proof of insurance and eight were for other traffic- or vehicle-related infractions.

Minnesota is among 30 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands that have primary seat-belt laws. Nineteen states still have “secondary” seat-belt laws, which bar law enforcement from using seat-belt noncompliance as the primary cause for a traffic stop.

Now don’t get me wrong. I buckle up. Always have. It’s plain common sense to me.

One recent study concluded 40 lives could be saved annually in Minnesota as a result of the new law. Another study concluded that medical bills of injured beltless motorists were 94 percent higher than belted folks injured in crashes. The study estimated $190 million in insurance costs would be saved in a decade if seat-belt compliance in the state increased to 94 percent.

There was also a financial incentive to change the law here — the state would receive $3.4 million in federal funds as a reward.

Not everyone wanted this law. Some critics thought it smacked of being a nanny-state intrusion by government. Others were concerned the law would be used to racially profile motorists. Others pointed to studies that showed 87 percent of Minnesotans were already seat-belt compliant.

MOCKING THE HOMELESS?

From a strictly law enforcement perspective, the undercover homeless ruse worked as well as a skilled fisherman reeling them in at an overstocked trout pond.

It is difficult for cops to determine, at a distance, who is not wearing a seat belt. There is no radar gun to detect seat-belt usage. So cops trying to enforce this law — both here and in Houston and a few other jursidictions — came up with the homeless idea as a way to observe vehicles at close range.

But some folks are not exactly thrilled with the ruse.

“I never heard of this before, and I believe it’s highly inappropriate and making a mockery of the homeless,” says Liz Kuoppala, executive director of the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless.

One cop I know who told me about the weekend crackdown also voiced concerns.

“The guys on the corner every day are allegedly homeless,” said the law enforcement official, who asked me to withhold his name. “So, you are a nice old lady who that frightens. Or, you are a good person who flips a buck to help these guys out, and find out later that cops are hiding behind the identity of a homeless and/or mentally ill person. Would you give money to the next homeless person?”

Kvam makes no apologies for the crackdown his department designed and led. He says police have received numerous complaints of panhandling and believes the seat-belt law is a good one and should be enforced. He understands the criticism that will come — insensitivity to the homeless as well as accusations that the crackdown is driven more by police overtime and the need to generate revenue than to enforce a slightly controversial law. He points out that only two cops — from North St. Paul — were on overtime and that Maplewood doesn’t get any money from the citations.

“We’re in a can’t-win situation,” Kvam said. “We’re like umpires in a game. No matter what you do, at least half the crowd will be against you.”

I was left wondering whether the cops violated one state law in order to enforce another. According to Subdivision 2 of Minnesota Statute 169.22, “no person shall stand on a roadway for the purpose of soliciting employment, business, or contributions from the occupant of any vehicle.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Bartz at one point switched his sign for another that read: “Unemployed ice dancer: please help.”

I asked Kvam whether motorists gave Bartz money before some of them got snagged in the sting.

“Yes,” Kvam said. “The total, including the value of a Cub Foods gift certificate, was $93. (Bartz) threw in another $7 to round it up to $100. The $100 was donated to the North St. Paul food shelf, where it will help feed those in need.”

How about Homeless Harriet?

“I do not know if the North St. Paul officer was handed money, though I did hear she was offered a ride and other propositions,” Kvam said.

What do you think? Was this crackdown and undercover ruse proper and aboveboard? E-mail me at rrosario@pioneerpress.com and include your name and hometown. I may publish responses Sunday.