Posted on 11/19/2011 12:02:23 PM PST by Feline_AIDS
A friend of mine had her apartment burglarized a few days ago. The thief picked up a subwoofer with a glass-like finish from the floor, leaving visible fingerprints. He also left a pen printed with the words "Welcome Home." Seems like he was startled by something and left in a hurry, didn't take everything he wanted.
He still made off with about $2000 worth of electronics. The door was locked back when he left.
The police stooge showed up almost an hour after she called; my friend hadn't touched anything. The stooge they sent out examined the glass for fingerprints and found them. He called a supervisor to tell about the prints. The conversation was audible because his phone volume was turned way up. The supervisor was discouraging him, asking him leading questions about the quality of the prints. The stooge said he thought they'd be usable, but would call the supervisor back. Outside.
When he comes back, they've decided not to dust for fingerprints, even though the thief has left usable ones behind. I'd had to leave by that point, or else I would have called BS.
Now here's what gets me. The pen said "Welcome Home." Does that not sound like a prison ministry sort of thing? Maybe it's not. But prisoners are the one block of the population whose fingerprints are absolutely recorded. Then pen might have a fingerprint on it, too. The stooge took the pen with him.
What should she do? I guess it's too late to dust the subwoofer, but is there a chance that she could get them to do something with the pen?
Another question: It seems the laptop that was stolen has popped up on craigslist. It might not be the same one, and there's no picture to confirm it, but it's an expensive laptop going for a cut-rate price, and it's suspicious that that very model laptop would show up the day after the burglary. Especially considering it's the only one like it listed for weeks. Any ideas?
the facts are that very few burglaries are solved by investigation at the home or business. Fingerprints aren’t always readable and may not be checked unless the city has some very expensive auto-comparison compututers like you see on the cop shows and CSI. In most cases it ain’t happening.
Professional burglars know the ropes and wear rubber gloves which just leave a smear. And very few people have all the necesssary serial numbers to identify their stolen items. It sounds like your friend has no way to identify her laptop except by Brand and Model. typical of all of us who think it won’t happen to them so the burglary detail can’t even locate it at a pawn shop if they make the rounds with lists of stolen items.
Some cities have realized that their police can be better used in other ways than doing ‘investigations’ that aren’t going to produce anything. (traffic ticket patrol makes a very nice profit for the city) They will only take a phone report for your insurance company purposes.
She does have the serial number for the laptop.
Either it is or it isn't.......which is it??????
The next time make sure the burglary happens when the cops are on overtime. Then you should get better services.
I am sorry Feline_AIDS... but first things first. Did the burglar have a key? How did he/they get into the home? My first concern would be to prevent any future burglaries or something more dangerous. Can I recommend that your friend get his/her locks changed immediately. I just don’t want your friend focusing on stolen property rather than his or her own life.
My Mom’s house got burgled several mos ago. There was one print on the outside of her window. After some hemming and hawing around they actually sent the print guy out to the house. Several weeks later a detective called to say that the print belonged to a known criminal. They have since arrested the guy and he is out on bail awaiting trial. I would call and demand a print team. Chances are the prints belong to some felon who is in the computer and they might catch him.
Have someone with another name/phone number check Craig’s List and you mught check pawn shops for the computer.
Good luck.
Police depts. differ, depending on where you live. In corrupt one-party Demonrat states like the one where I used to live, service is poor and the quality of the personnel stinks. I have been a victim of burglary many times, but no technician ever came to the scene. Where I live now, the police are more like the ones you describe.
“It seems the laptop that was stolen has popped up on craigslist. It might not be the same one,
Either it is or it isn’t.......which is it??????”
It’s the same model, make and year, but it was obviously not the only one made.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.