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I reported the crime to the police and even told them where it was, but they can't help me due to lack of resources. They must be too busy installing illegal e

I reported the crime to the police and even told them where it was, but they can't help me due to lack of resources. They must be too busy installing illegal exhaust systems on their police Harleys (http://motorcycles.about.com/b/2008/06/16/oakland-motorcycle-cops-stir-controversy-with-loud-pipes.htm http://motorcycles.about.com/b/2008/06/16/oakland-motorcycle...). Sorry to be off-topic. As a former Oakland resident, it's the first thing that comes to mind when I hear Oakland PD. Seriously, though, if you can provide the exact location of your stolen property, how can the police not see tremendous value in following up on it?

anamax 15y ago
> Seriously, though, if you can provide the exact location of your stolen property, how can the police not see tremendous value in following up on it? How is recovering your property "tremendous value" to the police? They're not paid on the basis of property recovered. In fact, the more robbery and so on, the more likely it is that they'll get more money.
- georgieporgie 15y ago
  Because doing nothing to serve up justice simply reinforces the behavior. This guy is probably out committing more property crime right now because, hey, it worked last time. Maybe he'll graduate to mugging, at some point. I'm not going to address your implication that the police are attempting to maximize their market demand. This is an issue of short-sightedness, laziness, and oblivious focus on more glamorous crime in order to placate the electorate. For more examples of Oakland PD's short-sightedness, look at the enormous crime wave following the Acorn Gang sting. They arrested a bunch of gang leaders, which left the unsupervised lackeys to wreak criminal havoc across the region.
  - gburt 15y ago
    I think anamax's point was that there's no incentive system for police to act in anything but their own interest. Their interest is not to solve crimes, its simply to not get fired.
city41 15y ago
My house got robbed about 5 years ago. I found my entire DVD collection -- complete with my name written in several of the DVD cases -- at a nearby used shop. The shop had a photocopy of the guy's driver's license, and the cops still did absolutely nothing. I hounded them everyday for about 3 months then finally gave up.
- codenerdz 15y ago
  blogosphere 5 years ago wouldve been slightly different, but I wonder if you were to publicize this on an internet nowadays with names of people who ignored your help requests, maybe your requests would have different traction
  - city41 15y ago
    Yeah it was quite the learning experience for me in many ways. If this happened now I'd handle it much differently.
mkempe 15y ago
I had the exact GPS location of my stolen iPhone in Atlanta. It stayed in one house for several hours, I drove to that house, called the police while parked in that street. They refused to do anything, the phone wasn't "worth it". They stated that: if it had been inside a stolen car they would have sent someone. When I asked why they weren't acting on the AT&T-supplied information, the policeman challenged me "are you going to tell me how to do my job?"
- georgieporgie 15y ago
  I've been told that a phrase which often spurs police into action is, "well, okay then, I've got my gun and I'm heading over there now."
  - JackWebbHeller 15y ago
    I wonder what the legal implications of saying that would actually be...?
- stretchwithme 15y ago
  I wonder what one has to do to get them to respond. Perhaps calling an attorney and getting a search warrant? People that steal without being punished are going to keep doing it. But preventing crime really isn't in the best interests of big city unionized police forces. Most have effectively insulated themselves from the demands of the average citizen.

anamax 15y ago

> Seriously, though, if you can provide the exact location of your stolen property, how can the police not see tremendous value in following up on it? How is recovering your property "tremendous value" to the police? They're not paid on the basis of property recovered. In fact, the more robbery and so on, the more likely it is that they'll get more money.

georgieporgie 15y ago
Because doing nothing to serve up justice simply reinforces the behavior. This guy is probably out committing more property crime right now because, hey, it worked last time. Maybe he'll graduate to mugging, at some point. I'm not going to address your implication that the police are attempting to maximize their market demand. This is an issue of short-sightedness, laziness, and oblivious focus on more glamorous crime in order to placate the electorate. For more examples of Oakland PD's short-sightedness, look at the enormous crime wave following the Acorn Gang sting. They arrested a bunch of gang leaders, which left the unsupervised lackeys to wreak criminal havoc across the region.
- gburt 15y ago
  I think anamax's point was that there's no incentive system for police to act in anything but their own interest. Their interest is not to solve crimes, its simply to not get fired.

city41 15y ago

My house got robbed about 5 years ago. I found my entire DVD collection -- complete with my name written in several of the DVD cases -- at a nearby used shop. The shop had a photocopy of the guy's driver's license, and the cops still did absolutely nothing. I hounded them everyday for about 3 months then finally gave up.

codenerdz 15y ago
blogosphere 5 years ago wouldve been slightly different, but I wonder if you were to publicize this on an internet nowadays with names of people who ignored your help requests, maybe your requests would have different traction
- city41 15y ago
  Yeah it was quite the learning experience for me in many ways. If this happened now I'd handle it much differently.

mkempe 15y ago

I had the exact GPS location of my stolen iPhone in Atlanta. It stayed in one house for several hours, I drove to that house, called the police while parked in that street. They refused to do anything, the phone wasn't "worth it". They stated that: if it had been inside a stolen car they would have sent someone. When I asked why they weren't acting on the AT&T-supplied information, the policeman challenged me "are you going to tell me how to do my job?"

georgieporgie 15y ago
I've been told that a phrase which often spurs police into action is, "well, okay then, I've got my gun and I'm heading over there now."
- JackWebbHeller 15y ago
  I wonder what the legal implications of saying that would actually be...?
stretchwithme 15y ago
I wonder what one has to do to get them to respond. Perhaps calling an attorney and getting a search warrant? People that steal without being punished are going to keep doing it. But preventing crime really isn't in the best interests of big city unionized police forces. Most have effectively insulated themselves from the demands of the average citizen.