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I've had two things stolen from me recovered and both times it was part of a larger sting operation. I'd imagine if the police followed this phone they'd find

I've had two things stolen from me recovered and both times it was part of a larger sting operation. I'd imagine if the police followed this phone they'd find hundreds of phones and other stolen goods at the location. That's the exploit the criminals are working from: do the unenforced petty crime repeatedly as an occupation. It's probably More profitable for reducing crime to hunt those people down because they're doing it operationally whereas some perpetrator of a crime of passion isn't doing it multiple hours every night. Also, I'm not actually advocating for locking those people up so much as getting them on the right track. That kind of initiative and organization is admirable, just stop robbing people with it

atyppo 4y ago
"Sting operation" makes you wonder which police lieutenant's wife's phone got stolen...
- whythre 4y ago
  Usually you need a lot of information to justify a warrant and execute a sting, and it often involves more than one law enforcement organization.
- kristopolous 4y ago
  For the record both times were auto theft. One was in Davis CA and the other was in Los Angeles CA. I never got a full story other than it was some larger operation where plenty of other things were recovered. I think if you walked into a police station and said you had something stolen when very reliable tracking information and was able to convince a detective, they'd likely be very interested. By as cynical as you want but things like that are exactly why they took the job. I'm pretty sympathetic to the defund movement but catching occupational criminals sounds pretty much exactly what I think the police should be doing
tragomaskhalos 4y ago
Totally agree. This is the essence of the 'broken windows' approach to crime prevention. Anecdotally (I live in north london) a large proportion of burglaries are committed by a small number of individuals, and in fact when a single gang were eventually apprehended a few years back it put an end to a serious spate of break-ins. When a mate was burgled in his area some years before that, the police found the perpetrator but did not pursue to prosecution as there was a sudden reprioritisation to anti-terrorist work. There is a disconnect between police priorities and the helplessness ordinary people feel when crimes that violate their homes and sense of security are not taken seriously.

atyppo 4y ago

"Sting operation" makes you wonder which police lieutenant's wife's phone got stolen...

whythre 4y ago
Usually you need a lot of information to justify a warrant and execute a sting, and it often involves more than one law enforcement organization.
kristopolous 4y ago
For the record both times were auto theft. One was in Davis CA and the other was in Los Angeles CA. I never got a full story other than it was some larger operation where plenty of other things were recovered. I think if you walked into a police station and said you had something stolen when very reliable tracking information and was able to convince a detective, they'd likely be very interested. By as cynical as you want but things like that are exactly why they took the job. I'm pretty sympathetic to the defund movement but catching occupational criminals sounds pretty much exactly what I think the police should be doing

tragomaskhalos 4y ago

Totally agree. This is the essence of the 'broken windows' approach to crime prevention. Anecdotally (I live in north london) a large proportion of burglaries are committed by a small number of individuals, and in fact when a single gang were eventually apprehended a few years back it put an end to a serious spate of break-ins. When a mate was burgled in his area some years before that, the police found the perpetrator but did not pursue to prosecution as there was a sudden reprioritisation to anti-terrorist work. There is a disconnect between police priorities and the helplessness ordinary people feel when crimes that violate their homes and sense of security are not taken seriously.