Police are breaking down?

[DTEJD1997]

Hey all:

 

Not sure if this belongs in "business strategies" section....  I'll post it here for now.

 

I, and my father, live near Detroit.  Not in it anymore, but in a very close suburb.

 

Recently, my father survived a bout with cancer.  He is very thankful to be alive and is also a car enthusiast.  He likes Corvettes.  So one day about 6 weeks he went out and bought a new black convertible.  A very nice car.

 

The other morning.  He gets up to go to work and comes into the garage, which is built into his house.  The garage door is open and the Corvette is missing!  All his other cars are there, but the door is open, vette is missing.  He immediately calls the "police" and then goes to talk to his neighbor.  His neighbor has an elaborate video surveillance system.  This system looks onto my Dad's property, and views the garage area and parts of the driveway.  Dad explains what happened and neighbor immediately goes to view the footage from the night before.

 

Police come out and want to know if Dad "tied one on" the night before....WTF?  He very rarely even has a beer.  So he & the police start "discussing" what exactly happened.  Neighbor hears the ruckus and comes out.  Turns out, he has video footage of criminals pushing the car down the driveway to the street and showing a  Cadillac Escalade coming up and pushing the Vette down the street.  Presumably, there was a flatbed truck to haul the car away on the next block.  This happened at about 2:30 AM.

 

Do the police want to view the video or get a copy of it?  NO

 

The police finally do write up a theft report so that Dad can report it to the insurance company.

 

OnStar can't locate the car...So the signal is either being blocked or the transmitter is disabled.

 

Does a "detective" come out to follow up?  NO  Do the "police" do anything other than write a report?  NO

 

This is a home invasion and a theft of a $70k car!!!!

 

The reaction of the police is almost as bad as the theft!  What are we paying them to do?  Write plenty of traffic tickets?  If they aren't going to investigate this, what will they investigate?  Murders?  Rapes (Michigan has a terrible problem with the police & rape kits)?  What are we paying the police to do? 

 

They come out, imply that father is a drunk and or idiot.  Won't investigate, don't want to see the surveillance...won't do nothing...don't want to write out report.  Giving an honest citizen difficulty...

 

Are they in league with the criminals?

 

Heck, if you are criminal mastermind, you could come to the Detroit area.  Unless you are caught red handed, the authorities aren't going to do anything about it.  No investigation.  No follow up.

 

The police are only keeping the barest of order.  If you keep your criminality quiet and at night, and don't shoot anything up, you are home free!

 

Maybe the police don't want to file the report in order to keep crime statistics down?

 

If you want to steal and engage in fraud, Michigan is the place for you!

 

 

 

 

 

[Mephistopheles]

Sorry to hear that.

 

A friend of mine had a similar experience with his iPhone in NYC. He was fell asleep on the subway, and was awoken to a guy who took his iPhone out of his hand. He tried following him to retrieve the phone, the guy turned around and revealed a gun in his waistband, threatening to use it if he continues to follow.

 

My friend called the police. Apparently since this occurred in the subway system, he had to specifically call the MTA police. So he called them, and they set up a time to interview my friend so he can file a report. 3 cops showed up to his apartment. My friend told them what happened and they immediately started interrogating him, as if he was the bad guy. He stuck with the story. They continued to intimidate and vigorously question everything he said. He wouldn't back down from his story. Then they told him that if he files the report, they will check the security cam at the place and time of the incident. If they don't see anything, then they'll go after him for lying to the police.

 

This is when he gave up. No report filed.

[Jurgis]

Some years ago we come back to our house after work and find big screen TV missing. Well, my wife did not even notice it, I noticed it when I got home. Call police. They tell us to get out of the house in case robber is still inside and show up in force (this being Boston and not Detroit suburbs ::) ), look through the house, find no burglar. Then one guy remains to write the report, finds the window that was open where the burglars cut the screen and got in. Well, he says, this is where they got in, but I'm not a detective, so we won't do anything more like taking fingerprints or whatever. Good bye. If you need to file insurance report, refer to case XXXXXX.

 

That's it. I thought it was par for course.

 

In another case, where someone stole my car (joyride) police phoned me to get it back when the car got towed with tons of parking tickets. At least I did not have to pay for the parking tickets.

 

In yet another case, a guy stole my purse/wallet/etc. got apprehended by mall police while trying to use blocked CC. I got back the contents that were dumped by the culprit and turned to police by good Samaritans.

 

That's my USA police experience. At least they don't ask for bribes and are not crooked - in my experience - as the police back in Lithuania...

 

Edit: all the times I've been stopped by traffic cops in USA, they have been extremely professional and nice. All the stops were warranted and I got fewer tickets than I should have.

[Pelagic]

Sorry to hear about that. A few years ago I was in a similar situation, I've had my boat stolen and in two separate additional incidents have had electronics and gear stolen off it. When my boat was recovered, completely stripped of everything leaving just the hull, I asked the officer conducting the investigation if he wanted to dust for prints. His response was basically no, we don't usually do that in these cases. They seem to look at high value property crime against insured individuals as basically a victimless crime, no one cares about insurance companies  :'(.

 

I worked with the claims agent who was handling my case over about a 6 month period to settle on a value and restore the vessel and along the way I mentioned a couple things I thought insurers in the area could do to deter boat theft. He said there was really no motivation on the part of local law enforcement officials for cases like mine where the boat was stolen for parts, in instances where the vessel was stolen to smuggle immigrants they had had some success working with federal agencies.

 

I know of a handful of cases where vessels with GPS tracking have been tracked by the owners and monitoring companies, which alerted local police who took hours to respond. In short, I empathize with your father and the problem isn't just in Michigan, in a lot of metro areas throughout the US police have little motivation to pursue crimes against property.

 

[rkbabang]

You pay them to put on ninja suits, break down doors and look for illegal plant products. That's about it. That is what you get when government has a monopoly on justice. There is no incentive to protect you or to get your property back. What are you going to do stop paying them? Go with a different company who treats its customers better? Sorry but you don't have those options. So pay your taxes and shut your mouth.

[ERICOPOLY]

Had my wheels stolen from a car once -- same response.  Police never came out to the property.  Cost $2,000 to replace them -- mostly at my cost because it was a high-deductible.

 

Encourages vigilante emotions.  Gun sales probably benefit from all of this.

 

[ERICOPOLY]

Remember that "Cops" episode where they sat behind the desk fielding calls where they refused to investigate?  Yeah, I missed it too.

[DTEJD1997]

Remember that "Cops" episode where they sat behind the desk fielding calls where they refused to investigate?  Yeah, I missed it too.

Well, I've got an episode here....This was a "home invasion" and theft of a $70k vehicle.

 

Part of the crime is captured on video tape!  They can't even be bothered to look at it!  Offered, and they refused!

[Cardboard]

Get your dad out of there. What is next from the leftists? His life?

 

Cardboard

[DTEJD1997]

Had my wheels stolen from a car once -- same response.  Police never came out to the property.  Cost $2,000 to replace them -- mostly at my cost because it was a high-deductible.

 

Encourages vigilante emotions.  Gun sales probably benefit from all of this.

 

Well, all those people wanting to cut back on the 2nd Amendment rights & gun control probably have not had the experience of a home invasion, thefts of vehicles, etc.  They probably also have not had to deal with AGGRESSIVELY incompetent police too!

 

I wonder what the response of gun control people would be if they knew the police won't do anything?  When they learn they aren't even INTERESTED in doing anything! 

 

I guess in their fantasy "la-la land" people don't have the right to protect themselves & their property when society & police start falling apart.

 

I just hope things don't get worse.  I & my father lived in Detroit in the 70's & 80's.  I've seen REALLY bad times, I hope they don't come back...

[Estimated Profit]

I was thinking of seeing a show in July at Pine Knob Music Theater (DTE Energy...) which is between Detroit and Flint.

 

I drive a newish German luxury sedan with Ontario plates and I'm a bit nervous parking it in the lot during the show.

 

Am I being paranoid or prudent?

 

any comments would be appreciated.

[DTEJD1997]

I was thinking of seeing a show in July at Pine Knob Music Theater (DTE Energy...) which is between Detroit and Flint.

 

I drive a newish German luxury sedan with Ontario plates and I'm a bit nervous parking it in the lot during the show.

 

Am I being paranoid or prudent?

 

any comments would be appreciated.

 

You are PROBABLY OK,  Don't leave anything visible inside the passenger compartment, lock it, park it under or very close to a light.  Pine Knob is a different area than where this happened.

 

I would not go into Flint though...

 

 

[LC]

Had my wheels stolen from a car once -- same response.  Police never came out to the property.  Cost $2,000 to replace them -- mostly at my cost because it was a high-deductible.

 

Encourages vigilante emotions.  Gun sales probably benefit from all of this.

 

Well, all those people wanting to cut back on the 2nd Amendment rights & gun control probably have not had the experience of a home invasion, thefts of vehicles, etc.  They probably also have not had to deal with AGGRESSIVELY incompetent police too!

 

I wonder what the response of gun control people would be if they knew the police won't do anything?  When they learn they aren't even INTERESTED in doing anything! 

 

I guess in their fantasy "la-la land" people don't have the right to protect themselves & their property when society & police start falling apart.

 

I just hope things don't get worse.  I & my father lived in Detroit in the 70's & 80's.  I've seen REALLY bad times, I hope they don't come back...

 

The USA is a diverse place. Here is NYC...it is as safe and well policed as I've seen it in the last 30 years. Pretty incredible how far it's come from the 70s. In my opinion guns would cause more harm than good here.

 

In Spokane Washington? I have the total opposite view.

[Jurgis]

Guns in the hands of people is never a solution. If police doesn't work, fix the police. Don't give up and arm the people. And BTW the pro-gun clowns are in lala land if they think that their 80 year old parents will shoot the armed robbers stealing their cars and everything will work out just fine.

 

Places where police enforcement breaks down and crime is rampant are unsafe whether you have a gun or not. In some situations having the gun will scare the criminals, in others it will just escalate and you'll end up dead. Presumably that's the outcome that doesn't cross the gun toters mind. The solution is to solve the economy problems, solve the crime problems, solve the enforcement problems. Yeah, it's hard. So people always go for easy "solutions" that don't solve anything. Cause NYC crime was radically reduced by giving NYCers guns. Not. http://www.nber.org/digest/jan03/w9061.html

[adesigar]

Guns in the hands of people is never a solution. If police doesn't work, fix the police. Don't give up and arm the people. And BTW the pro-gun clowns are in lala land if they think that their 80 year old parents will shoot the armed robbers stealing their cars and everything will work out just fine.

 

Places where police enforcement breaks down and crime is rampant are unsafe whether you have a gun or not. In some situations having the gun will scare the criminals, in others it will just escalate and you'll end up dead. Presumably that's the outcome that doesn't cross the gun toters mind. The solution is to solve the economy problems, solve the crime problems, solve the enforcement problems. Yeah, it's hard. So people always go for easy "solutions" that don't solve anything. Cause NYC crime was radically reduced by giving NYCers guns. Not. http://www.nber.org/digest/jan03/w9061.html

 

+1

[adesigar]

Had my wheels stolen from a car once -- same response.  Police never came out to the property.  Cost $2,000 to replace them -- mostly at my cost because it was a high-deductible.

 

Encourages vigilante emotions.  Gun sales probably benefit from all of this.

 

Well, all those people wanting to cut back on the 2nd Amendment rights & gun control probably have not had the experience of a home invasion, thefts of vehicles, etc.  They probably also have not had to deal with AGGRESSIVELY incompetent police too!

 

I wonder what the response of gun control people would be if they knew the police won't do anything?  When they learn they aren't even INTERESTED in doing anything! 

 

I guess in their fantasy "la-la land" people don't have the right to protect themselves & their property when society & police start falling apart.

 

I just hope things don't get worse.  I & my father lived in Detroit in the 70's & 80's.  I've seen REALLY bad times, I hope they don't come back...

 

The police in some of these areas are busy dealing with the nuts and criminals running around with guns. I know some people think personal property like cars and wheels are sooooo much more important than other peoples lives.

[fareastwarriors]

Had my wheels stolen from a car once -- same response.  Police never came out to the property.  Cost $2,000 to replace them -- mostly at my cost because it was a high-deductible.

 

Encourages vigilante emotions.  Gun sales probably benefit from all of this.

 

Well, all those people wanting to cut back on the 2nd Amendment rights & gun control probably have not had the experience of a home invasion, thefts of vehicles, etc.  They probably also have not had to deal with AGGRESSIVELY incompetent police too!

 

I wonder what the response of gun control people would be if they knew the police won't do anything?  When they learn they aren't even INTERESTED in doing anything! 

 

I guess in their fantasy "la-la land" people don't have the right to protect themselves & their property when society & police start falling apart.

 

I just hope things don't get worse.  I & my father lived in Detroit in the 70's & 80's.  I've seen REALLY bad times, I hope they don't come back...

 

You and your father won't have issues getting a gun even with more gun control since you're are regular citizens and have no priors (assuming).

[fareastwarriors]

I was thinking of seeing a show in July at Pine Knob Music Theater (DTE Energy...) which is between Detroit and Flint.

 

I drive a newish German luxury sedan with Ontario plates and I'm a bit nervous parking it in the lot during the show.

 

Am I being paranoid or prudent?

 

any comments would be appreciated.

 

You are PROBABLY OK,  Don't leave anything visible inside the passenger compartment, lock it, park it under or very close to a light.  Pine Knob is a different area than where this happened.

 

I would not go into Flint though...

 

 

You shouldn't have anything visible of anything in your car, anywhere.  Not a sweater, not a jacket, and definitely not a bag. Don't even bring too much stuff and if you have stuff, put everything in trunk. Maybe I'm just used to it around here but I take that precaution everywhere. It doesn't matter to me if it's a super nice gated community. Same mentality. 

[Estimated Profit]

Thanks DTE --- Far East  ---  just might go take in a show...

 

8)

[Deepdive]

 

All these buildings are now worth at least $10 mm, but back then they were empty mostly because it was very dangerous. This is the result of people feeling unsafe.

[DTEJD1997]

 

All these buildings are now worth at least $10 mm, but back then they were empty mostly because it was very dangerous. This is the result of people feeling unsafe.

 

Interesting video!  HOWEVER, I think that some parts of that area look downright bustling & prosperous compared to some areas of Detroit not far from me...

 

If you could magically pull someone from 1942 or 1943 and drive them down Gratiot (from Eastern Market down towards 8 mile) they would assume that we LOST WWII to the Nazis or Imperial Japan.  There are MANY vacant fields (where buildings once stood).  There are TONS of burned out/bombed buildings...Maybe 1/4 of them.  There are maybe 1/4 that are derelict.  Then there are maybe 1/4 that are semi-functioning or still functional.  This goes on for about 5 miles....till you get to 8 mile and cross over the frontier into Eastpointe.

 

OR perhaps drive someone from 42 or 42 down Van Dyke N. Of I-94 going towards 7 mile and they will think we lost to the MARTIANS!  I've never seen anything like it.  It literally looks a huge nuke bomb went off.  Most buildings are burned down.  HUGE fields of empty space. Huge slag/trash piles....some graveyards.  Vacancy of heavy industry (and everything else) is at least 90%.  I've seen some bad stuff....but I've never seen anything remotely approaching this.  I should take some pictures and post them.  Absolutely shocking.

 

So that video from "grimy NYC" ain't got nothing on Detroit!  haha

[ratiman]

My father had his car stolen from his driveway. Somebody came in the middle of the night with a tow truck.

 

This was the response of the police.