The Vent and Rant Thread

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Thieves are scum.

I hope they're found, put away, and the stuff returned.

they never will be. the cops didn't even brush for fingerprints, stating that finding them was a lost cause. that just drives me crazy as there are probably small crimes like this all the time in this little town. it is probably the same small group of people. eventually one of them will be popped for a DUI, drunk and disorderly or some such and their prints will be taken then. but no, the cops can't be bothered. it;s not like this is a major crime center!

Originally Posted by dsvick

How much would you charge to rent Pi out to them for each night? If that doesn't stop them nothing will.


We had a van stolen from our driveway a few years ago, it was a big inconvenience but nothing terrible since we ended getting more for it than we probably could have sold it for, but the part that pissed me off completely was that they took our son's car seat (he was only 2 at the time) and tossed it somewhere. The van was found trashed and pretty much unusable but we never saw the car seat again. Have I mentioned how much I can't stand thieves, worthless, little, small minded, sissy, cowards that they are.

renting Pi would include me. she would be so miserable without people!

Originally Posted by bjones6416

A friend of mine was at a fundraiser at her daughter's school, and she left her purse in the car for about an hour, out of sight. Somebody went through and broke into 6 or 7 cars and took 3 purses. They called the police, cancelled their credit cards, etc., and went home. Later that night J. got a call from her pharmacist. Apparently a woman who was getting some empty boxes out of a dumpster behind a liquor store saw that 3 purses were in the bottom of the dumpster. She managed to fish one of them out (my friend's) and although all the cards and ID were gone she found a bottle of prescription medication. She took it to the pharmacy on the label and they contacted J. After a bout of dumpster diving J. recovered all three purses with everything in them except wallets/cards, and the (busted) cellphones of her friends. J. had her cellphone in her pocket so it didn't get stolen. Anyway, I think she learned the lesson of not leaving anything valuable in her car, but it was heartening that the woman collecting the boxes went to the trouble to track her down through the pharmacy. Sometimes the stuff the thieves throw away because it has no value to them is the stuff we can't replace.

back when I was a teenager but still a Girl Scout, I was selling cookies at my Dad's office and several other businesses in the area. I was down there delivering cookies and picking up payments. Dad took me out to lunch so I put my payment envelope in the car. I had one of the old boxy Toyota Land Cruisers. it was a fairly warm spring day so I had the air vents open, which in a Land Cruiser was actually a hinged door down by the foot pedals. I had stuck the payment envelope under the driver's seat and locked the doors. some bozo managed to reach in, unlock the door and get the envelope. almost certainly it had to have been someone who had been watching me to go through all of those machinations. I had been parked in the alley right behind my Dad's building, and this was Boulder in the 70s, once again not a crime mecca. the cops found the envelope in a dumpster sans cash the next day. the only reason they actually looked was because of Dad's influence as an attorney at the time. stealing Girl Scout cookie money is about as low as it gets

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Some years ago, I shared a house with friends. One of the friends played piano, and there were two upright pianos in the house, and a grand piano harp sitting on the porch.

We all went away for a weekend. When we came back, we discovered that the harp was gone from the porch. We were nonplussed. A grand piano harp weighs about 300lbs. Stealing one would require about four strong guys and a pickup truck. But once you had stolen it, what would you do with it? It's not the sort of thing you can fence to buy drugs.

We couldn't think of any reason for the theft beyond "because they could."
______
Dennis

heh! I had two harpists at my wedding. sounds like a grand plan until you take into consideration that if they are friends and you ask them, you have to transport them!

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

...heh! I had two harpists at my wedding. sounds like a grand plan until you take into consideration that if they are friends and you ask them, you have to transport them!

I know a harpist. She plays wonderfully, but dragging that instrument around with her has got to be pain. All harpists should have their own roadies (she doesn't).

[devilsadvocate]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

they never will be. the cops didn't even brush for fingerprints, stating that finding them was a lost cause. that just drives me crazy as there are probably small crimes like this all the time in this little town. it is probably the same small group of people. eventually one of them will be popped for a DUI, drunk and disorderly or some such and their prints will be taken then. but no, the cops can't be bothered. it;s not like this is a major crime center!

Go over their heads to the county. If that doesn't work, go to the state. If that doesn't work go to a Radio Shack, get some cameras, conspicuously move some old computers/electronic stuff into the office, and wait for the opportunity to address the problem as you see fit. I'm a big believer in "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

[Mortis]

I have to disagree to a certain extent, I would much prefer someone steal something out of my car or my empty home than having someone come in while I was asleep with a knife or a gun. Anyone that has been the victim of an armed robbery will tell you that having something as trivial as a purse stolen out of a car is a laugh, compared to a violent crime. A simple robbery of a business is almost a victimless crime in comparison to an armed robbery, I did say almost. Anyone looking down the barrel of a cheep chinese automatic will tell you the same thing and I bet you would as well if you were put in the same position.

Yes the criminals are all scum, but there are degrees.

So KK, you're local police saying there is little point following up on your robbery, as crappy as it seems to you, it is the right thing to do. The chances of catching and convicting a break and enter thief, without someone turning them in or them making a huge mistake is about the same as winning your lunch playing poker with your waitress in Vegas, that is to say not much of a chance. Their time is prioritized by the category of the crimes, as miserable as that may be to you now, that means that an armed robbery is more important than a B&E or a murder is more important than a simple armed robbery.

The police would likely give you the same advice as I would and that is to go out and get some better locks, a timer for the lights and maybe a guard dog, because unless the police are there on the scene while the robbery is taking place or you happen to have surveillance video they aren't going to investigate a petty theft.

I again wish you the best of luck in retrieving your lost property and that you are never again subjected to the stress this causes.

Cheers

[dsvick]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

renting Pi would include me. she would be so miserable without people!

Well there you go then - overtime!!

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

stealing Girl Scout cookie money is about as low as it gets

Hopefully there is a special place in hell for them.

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by devilsadvocate

Go over their heads to the county. If that doesn't work, go to the state. If that doesn't work go to a Radio Shack, get some cameras, conspicuously move some old computers/electronic stuff into the office, and wait for the opportunity to address the problem as you see fit. I'm a big believer in "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

not my place to do that. I am the FNG and at the very bottom of the heap

Originally Posted by Mortis

I have to disagree to a certain extent, I would much prefer someone steal something out of my car or my empty home than having someone come in while I was asleep with a knife or a gun. Anyone that has been the victim of an armed robbery will tell you that having something as trivial as a purse stolen out of a car is a laugh, compared to a violent crime. A simple robbery of a business is almost a victimless crime in comparison to an armed robbery, I did say almost. Anyone looking down the barrel of a cheep chinese automatic will tell you the same thing and I bet you would as well if you were put in the same position.

Yes the criminals are all scum, but there are degrees.

So KK, you're local police saying there is little point following up on your robbery, as crappy as it seems to you, it is the right thing to do. The chances of catching and convicting a break and enter thief, without someone turning them in or them making a huge mistake is about the same as winning your lunch playing poker with your waitress in Vegas, that is to say not much of a chance. Their time is prioritized by the category of the crimes, as miserable as that may be to you now, that means that an armed robbery is more important than a B&E or a murder is more important than a simple armed robbery.

The police would likely give you the same advice as I would and that is to go out and get some better locks, a timer for the lights and maybe a guard dog, because unless the police are there on the scene while the robbery is taking place or you happen to have surveillance video they aren't going to investigate a petty theft.

I again wish you the best of luck in retrieving your lost property and that you are never again subjected to the stress this causes.

Cheers

if there is a pack of these little cretins running around doing a bunch of petty property crime, the places get dusted when it happens, the prints go on file with reference to B&E, someone gets sloppy, gets busted for something else, run the prints, and bingo. and! once again, this is nOT a high crime area. there might be 2 murders in the county a year and those are usually love triangles or people being drunk and playing around. meth is the biggest problem here and I would be willing to bet that the players in this game play in that one as well

Originally Posted by dsvick

Well there you go then - overtime!!



Hopefully there is a special place in hell for them.

commission only ;o(

the envelope had Girl Scout logos all over it as well as the words 'Girl Scouts' and the council.

[Mortis]

Sorry to hear that KK, I wasn't suggesting that you were wrong for hating the little fatherless children, but that the police, believe it or not, know what they are doing for the most part.

Meth is a huge problem now, even here where possession means you have a very good chance to being hung, I can only assume its a great drug for so many people to ruin their lives over it.

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by Mortis

Sorry to hear that KK, I wasn't suggesting that you were wrong for hating the little fatherless children, but that the police, believe it or not, know what they are doing for the most part.

Meth is a huge problem now, even here where possession means you have a very good chance to being hung, I can only assume its a great drug for so many people to ruin their lives over it.

the older I get the more I do not believe that the police know what they are doing ;o(

[Mortis]

Funny the older I get the more I know they do

It could be the different police departments thought. I don't think they are all the same, some are better than others, but I believe they are all trying.

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by Mortis

Funny the older I get the more I know they do

It could be the different police departments thought. I don't think they are all the same, some are better than others, but I believe they are all trying.

one of my best friends is a cop. I love her to pieces, I still distrust and dislike 90% of cops. one of the first things I ask myself when evaluating someone as a cop is; "why do you s'spose this person got into police work?" if *power tripping* even burbles, I figure there are issues

[jaxx6166]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

one of my best friends is a cop. I love her to pieces, I still distrust and dislike 90% of cops. one of the first things I ask myself when evaluating someone as a cop is; "why do you s'spose this person got into police work?" if *power tripping* even burbles, I figure there are issues

KK, I'm terribly sorry about your burglary. Unfortunately, there are good and bad people in every profession. Sounds to me like you got a dud to respond to your call for service. And it bothers me, if for no other reason, than it black eyes us all. Cops are used to crime scenes all day long, for the victim it's something extra ordinary that does not happen every day. There's all sorts of emotions running through their head, and to have somebody respond and be "meh" sucks. As for not dusting for prints and all that, I wasn't there and don't know the first thing about your town.

For us, we handle at least a thousand burglaries a year, sometimes more. And I'll be honest, there are some times where it would be "useless" and I know it would be a lost cause and waste of time, but you don't tell somebody that. I've been around a while (in the profession around ten years, five with my current agency) and I still have this little thing inside of me that says don't be stupid. There are some agencies that don't even bother processing scenes. Some of them, for any property or violent crime a detective gets called out, and sometimes that detective does the processing. Hell, there are some big metro agencies that won't even respond out to your scene, they'll take it over the phone and be done with it.

There are some barney fife pd's out there, and those, for as safe as they are, are not places I'd want to live. Places where you get a job because your daddy knows somebody or something else do not usually result in highly qualified individuals working for you. The other big issue is morale, and it's one that affects every agency nationwide. City, County, and State governments are tightening belts and expect more for less, you can't get blood from a stone. And when you crush the morale of someone, it's like pissing in the wind. Service suffers, no matter what anybody thinks.

To distrust 90% of the officers you meet is a bad sign, and it makes me sad. I know it's not just you and there's hundreds of thousands of people that feel the same way you do. The war on crime is like the war on drugs, it's an uphill battle that we're losing. Are there cops on powertrips? Sure. Are there guys all roided out because they want to prove how big their dicks are? Definitely. Are we all like that, no.

I know why I do what I do, and I can assure you it's not to prove a point or be better than somebody. I'm no different than anybody else, well, I mean, I think I'm an alright guy, but you might think I'm (insert clever euphemism) but who am I to second guess?

I'm no armchair quarterback, but I know I would have at least gave it a valiant effort to try and find something, even if I knew there was nothing. Because there's always the slim chance that you might get lucky.

My last shift I spent a good 40 minutes processing a dry scene looking for something. She told me that a bunch of electronics and about $150 worth of change went missing. I knew there wasn't going to be anything, but I had the point of entry (kitchen window) and an attempt (sliding glass door) and had the possibility that somebody might have used the attic to gain access.

I prefer to treat everybody with respect until you prove to me that you're undeserving of such. IE/I'm nice until being nice isn't an option anymore, or you turn into a poopface and things go down hill from there.

But, that's just me. Even people on the streets tell me I'm too nice to walk a beat in the ghetto. *Shrug*

I'll send you a PM for future reference of some tips that I give people.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

one of my best friends is a cop. I love her to pieces, I still distrust and dislike 90% of cops. one of the first things I ask myself when evaluating someone as a cop is; "why do you s'spose this person got into police work?" if *power tripping* even burbles, I figure there are issues

Good thing you didn't have my childhood, KK. My uncle was deputy, jailer, and then police chief, and his middle son was fire chief in the town I grew up in. I was surrounded by law enforcement types all the time growing up because we usually had a few deputies or cops at most family gatherings. When my uncle died, the church was completely filled with uniforms - it's the only funeral I've ever been to where 90% of the attendees were armed.
I have the greatest respect for law enforcement. Yes, there are bad apples (one of the police chiefs after my uncle died turned out to be a con artist - didn't even have law enforcement certification. However, the idiot city manager that didn't check his credentials certainly wasn't blameless there). But most of the time I believe they are decent people trying to do an impossible job.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

...But most of the time I believe they are decent people trying to do an impossible job.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ THIS! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by jaxx6166

KK, I'm terribly sorry about your burglary. Unfortunately, there are good and bad people in every profession. Sounds to me like you got a dud to respond to your call for service. And it bothers me, if for no other reason, than it black eyes us all. Cops are used to crime scenes all day long, for the victim it's something extra ordinary that does not happen every day. There's all sorts of emotions running through their head, and to have somebody respond and be "meh" sucks. As for not dusting for prints and all that, I wasn't there and don't know the first thing about your town.

*snip*

I don't immediately hate all police officers. when growing up the Chief of Police was always a guest at our New Years parties, attended our church, etc. through my Dad I had a great deal of contact with the police department. I was accultured to respect and believe in law enforcement. I have never had "criminal behaviour", but my experience here over the last 12 or so years has been horrid; we went on an extended vacation and had a house sitter stay here. he in turn invited some buddies in that started running a meth lab. when we got back, the house was a wreck, clothes, jewelry, am inherited pistol, checks, my HAIR (that had been cut off when I was 9, about 14 inches of it) had been stolen. we found odd cookware, needles, razor blades, used condoms, pipes cans, bottles and all sorts of other paraphenalia ALL over the house. they stole my husband's ID, wrote checks all over the state. the cops couldn't be bothered to even come out, just gave me a case number over the phone. just recently in this state we have had a hearing impaired Native American woodcarver gunned down while walking AWAY from a cop, a Newfoundland Dog SLAUGHTERED by four 'roided up officers whilst cowering in a back yard, and a 13 year old girl shot by a deputy while attempting to stop her kidnapper/lover in a Wal-Mart parking lot. and out of this noble profession, I have more contact with them over an outstanding dog at large ticket than any of the crap that happened in my house.

frustrated and distrustful? you betcha!

Originally Posted by phenomshel

Good thing you didn't have my childhood, KK. My uncle was deputy, jailer, and then police chief, and his middle son was fire chief in the town I grew up in. I was surrounded by law enforcement types all the time growing up because we usually had a few deputies or cops at most family gatherings. When my uncle died, the church was completely filled with uniforms - it's the only funeral I've ever been to where 90% of the attendees were armed.
I have the greatest respect for law enforcement. Yes, there are bad apples (one of the police chiefs after my uncle died turned out to be a con artist - didn't even have law enforcement certification. However, the idiot city manager that didn't check his credentials certainly wasn't blameless there). But most of the time I believe they are decent people trying to do an impossible job.

no, I get it, I do. there are some great people, but then there are some that are just collecting the pay check and strutting

[bjones6416]

Originally Posted by jaxx6166

KK, I'm terribly sorry about your burglary. Unfortunately, there are good and bad people in every profession. Sounds to me like you got a dud to respond to your call for service. And it bothers me, if for no other reason, than it black eyes us all. Cops are used to crime scenes all day long, for the victim it's something extra ordinary that does not happen every day. There's all sorts of emotions running through their head, and to have somebody respond and be "meh" sucks. As for not dusting for prints and all that, I wasn't there and don't know the first thing about your town.

For us, we handle at least a thousand burglaries a year, sometimes more. And I'll be honest, there are some times where it would be "useless" and I know it would be a lost cause and waste of time, but you don't tell somebody that. I've been around a while (in the profession around ten years, five with my current agency) and I still have this little thing inside of me that says don't be stupid. There are some agencies that don't even bother processing scenes. Some of them, for any property or violent crime a detective gets called out, and sometimes that detective does the processing. Hell, there are some big metro agencies that won't even respond out to your scene, they'll take it over the phone and be done with it.

There are some barney fife pd's out there, and those, for as safe as they are, are not places I'd want to live. Places where you get a job because your daddy knows somebody or something else do not usually result in highly qualified individuals working for you. The other big issue is morale, and it's one that affects every agency nationwide. City, County, and State governments are tightening belts and expect more for less, you can't get blood from a stone. And when you crush the morale of someone, it's like pissing in the wind. Service suffers, no matter what anybody thinks.

To distrust 90% of the officers you meet is a bad sign, and it makes me sad. I know it's not just you and there's hundreds of thousands of people that feel the same way you do. The war on crime is like the war on drugs, it's an uphill battle that we're losing. Are there cops on powertrips? Sure. Are there guys all roided out because they want to prove how big their dicks are? Definitely. Are we all like that, no.

I know why I do what I do, and I can assure you it's not to prove a point or be better than somebody. I'm no different than anybody else, well, I mean, I think I'm an alright guy, but you might think I'm (insert clever euphemism) but who am I to second guess?

I'm no armchair quarterback, but I know I would have at least gave it a valiant effort to try and find something, even if I knew there was nothing. Because there's always the slim chance that you might get lucky.

My last shift I spent a good 40 minutes processing a dry scene looking for something. She told me that a bunch of electronics and about $150 worth of change went missing. I knew there wasn't going to be anything, but I had the point of entry (kitchen window) and an attempt (sliding glass door) and had the possibility that somebody might have used the attic to gain access.

I prefer to treat everybody with respect until you prove to me that you're undeserving of such. IE/I'm nice until being nice isn't an option anymore, or you turn into a poopface and things go down hill from there.

But, that's just me. Even people on the streets tell me I'm too nice to walk a beat in the ghetto. *Shrug*

I'll send you a PM for future reference of some tips that I give people.

Excellent and thoughtful post - thank you.