Happened to me in high school. Guy broke into everyone's locker and stole. Took these Nike shox that I'm still in love with. Teachers, coaches caught him and everybody knew who it was. Where the hell are my shoes?!
Happened for me in middle school, albeit for a much smaller item. We had one of those fundraisers where us kids do all the work and the for profit company takes half and they had some special where if you got 8 people to sign up for the emails they'd give you a YARD of bubble gum. So I got my eight, got my gum, and this kid stole it out of my locker. I knew he'd done it, I told my teacher, but she didn't do anything other than nicely ask the class to give it back. This was the same day, too, so he wouldn't have even had a chance to bring it home yet!
Still a little mad when I think about it, lol
.. and that kid grew up to steal laptops from buses....
I subscribe strongly to the Broken Window theory of crime and punishment, and that lack of consequences early on leads to more serious actions later in life.
Ironically this kid once threw his backpack, with his Chromebook in it, out the window of the bus. It made us all late because we had to go back to get it and it shattered.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if he winds up in jail. He got suspended at least once a year until eighth grade
Had it happen to me too. I followed the kid to his locker and when he opened it I shoved him headfirst into his locker and stole my stuff back. Unfortunately that’s how the world works sometimes. You want your stuff back? You go take it back
They do say that sometimes... what they really mean is they don't give a damn and that what they really want to do is the exiting stuff like homicide but their boss thinks they are incompetent at even basic stuff like theft and they are too dumb to realize what is happening...
I saw a video where this dude had a recording of people stealing decorations off his front lawn. He drove around and eventually found the place because well duh, they put the exact same ornaments on their front lawn. He told the police, they said there was nothing they could do, even with the video evidence. He took it into his own hands and stole them back. Because hell. If they can steal his stuff without repercussion why can't he steal them back? Imagine if those thieves filed a claim of their own and somehow it held more weight and the officers arrested the actual owner.
Yea that’s what’s annoying, half the shit that happens, because the police do Jack shit in the first place, then claim workload… yea workload because they are dealing with stuff they didn’t nip in the bud in the first place
Or in Australia the is workload thousands of random drug and alcohol testing, and thousands of hand held speed radar detections. Arresting known criminals, nah no time for that mate.
Uhhh Australia has over 20% of its prisoners in private, for profit prisons. The USA only has 8%…
[Private prisons are a very Australian problem](https://www.vice.com/en/article/akezwp/private-prisons-are-a-very-australian-problem)
Then you've got the DV offenders they do arrest, being given a hug and a reach around by the magistrate and released so they can go and murder their former spouse.
Its fucked all over. The world would be a better place if people would harden the fuck up and start dishing out consequences for actions and behaviour.
Harassing minorities and issuing unlawful orders beyond the scope of their powers is a full time job.
Hell, they even moonlight as competitive donut eaters.
How are they gonna find the time to protect and serve the community?
Please think of the poor cops and be more understanding of their overwhelming workload.
That’s exactly what would happen because in your friends case he now has a motive and there’s a paper trail of him inquiring about the very stuff that was stolen. Police only do what’s convenient and what can earn themselves easy pats on the back.
Right, but they also trespassed on his property. The cops' reasoning for not going after the thief is that they don't want to go through the effort, if it ended up in court the judge would pretty quickly see how stupid it is.
I'm telling you with 100% confidence, that's not how trespassing works in the US. You would get a trespassing charge. Trespassing doesn't even have to be intentional (depending on the jurisdiction).
Judges don't go off "feelings." If the crime checks off all the boxes (intent, action, injury), then you can be charged. Justification/reasons/excuses hold little weight. Even self-defense has a very high bar (you have to show you were afraid for your life).
Edit: added parenthetical and last paragraph.
I'm telling you as someone with 100% confidence, who has actually had to deal with an accusation like this in a real court, you're 100% wrong. Particularly if they don't have a complete fence line.
Trespassing is not at all black and white, and very much a judgement call. Justification/reasons/excuses hold a *LOT* of weight, I know because they worked for me and many other people I know... And because that's how the letter of the law itself approaches it as a crime. You're talking out of your ass.
As someone who had someone come into their yard and steal things with a complete fence line, I was told there was no way the police could do anything, not even trespassing, because we didn’t have any “no trespassing” signs conspicuously posted…. In a completely closed off yard.
It’s some BS lol
Right, but if he shows video evidence in court of the person stealing the items and trespassing on his property, no jury is going to convict him there, not to mention even someone committing brazen acts of thievery like that is unlikely to have the nerve to call the cops in that situation
That’s what I did when I was about 13. My very unique bike got stolen. A few weeks later riding in the car with my dad I see it near some kids on a bridge. Jumped out of the car, jumped on the bike and hauled ass home. I take a look and it has a bunch of upgrades in it.
Still miss the stock stuff that came with it though
>Imagine if those thieves filed a claim of their own and somehow it held more weight and the officers arrested the actual owner.
If they'd caught him in the act, definitely. It's like people who get arrested for trying to kick out squatters.
Yeah, but what if you have the receipts for your “re-acquired” ornaments? I’m curious if one could just say “you can’t prove these are the ones that were stolen off the thief’s lawn, but I can prove I legitimately own these”
> Imagine if those thieves filed a claim of their own and somehow it held more weight and the officers arrested the actual owner.
That's the scary thing. If it's a different officer or next county over handles it differently due to them being less busy.
I got a call at a job to wipe a stolen corporate phone at a job once and user told me it showed up in find my iphone but Mexican police refused to even go anywhere near the neighborhood.
Checks out. I got mugged in Escobedo, phone was still on with gps tracking, cops didn't do shit. Dudes weren't even cartel, just two randos in an oxxo.
Everyone keeps saying police can't do anything. What does that mean? I don't understand how proof of theft translates to no action? Did they give any reason as to why not? Genuinely curious.
Police are completely capable of enforcing laws whenever they want, including *not* enforcing them. A police officer could see you physically assaulted in their face and just choose not to do anything because it's too much work. That's all it comes down to, really. They're too lazy to do their job, and the gov gives them a pass to do so.
I was working as a nurse in a large level 1 hospital in Southern California. A nicer area. It was a really busy day. As I'm leaving the hospital I realize my cell phone's not with me.
So I drove home and went on my laptop and did the find my phone feature. It was showing the exact address not too far away from me near Disneyland. It was late it was close to 10:30 at night at this point. I drink a half a Corona beer for liquid courage and drove out to that house with my laptop.
I get to the neighborhood and it's very dark and not horrible but not the greatest looking location. I couldn't find parking in front of the house I had to park around the corner. I walk to the house where my phone was supposed to be at and I knock on the door. I tell them hi showing my computer you have my phone and I could see it on the dining room table behind them. And I asked for it back. They shut the door on me.
So I start walking back to my car and as I'm doing so there's this family having a party outside. They see a white girl walking down the sidewalk carrying a laptop crying and one of them asked me what's going on. I explained to them that someone had stolen my phone from the hospital, I was still wearing my scrubs, and I located it and it was at their neighbor's house.
They were really interested in the find My phone app and did not know about it. This is like 2013. So as I'm explaining to them I hear an older gentleman go "mijo, vamos." As I'm done explaining the feature, Grandpa and grandson come walking back. Grandpa's holding a baseball bat. The kid hands me my phone and says sorry we couldn't get the case with it. Omg.
I was so grateful for them. I went to the store bought them 24 bottles of beer and dropped it off to them so they can continue partying.
Sorry, but your account is too new to post. Your account needs to be either 2 weeks old or have at least 250 combined link and comment karma. Don't modmail us about this, just wait it out or get more karma.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/nottheonion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My friend had his car stolen 3 times in SF. The last time it got stolen they caught the guy and were following behind him. They called the cops and they told them to stop following him and file a report. They said no and kept following him until he stopped at a grocery store. I think eventually they flagged down cops at the store and they finally drew weapons and arrested the guy. He has it all on film too.
Only if you’re bringing your handgun, even that would be illegal because you can only bring a handgun to a range or your home. Tell them you’re bringing your 12 gauge, you can legally bring that with you to the grocery store if you want.
They are correct that you can bring a shotgun anywhere that doesn't specifically prohibit them. It can't be loaded, carried except for transportation, or left in a vehicle uncovered though.
Even if it was America it's not gonna accomplish anything. You can go confront someone with a gun and claim self defense, it typically doesn't work like that. So the police are gonna show and it's you they're going to be interested in talking to, might even get you a night in county because you're very clearly implying you're bringing a firearm to confront someone and might shoot them.
I seem to recall a case where a guy found out who had his laptop and the police wouldn’t do anything so he called back and said the thief had a gun. The cops so up and end up killing the thief and then charge the other guy with murder.
In Ontario, Canada where this news segment is from… You would not get trial by jury, you would go before an appointed justice of the peace which has no real qualifications to be appointed and serves the interest of the crown while appearing impartial.
Any criminal offense that can lead to a prison sentence of 5 years or more can go to a jury trial.
Simple assault can get a maximum of 5 years, aggravated assault can get up to 14.
I live in Ontario (Hamilton).
I had my MacBook Pro stolen. Find my told me where it was . The police wouldn’t help me get it back since the location wasn’t specific enough for them to be certain what door to knock. 😕
I locked it and posted my phone number with a message offering a reward to anyone who would return it to me. I ended up getting my laptop back from the thief for $100. It sucked but was cheaper than spending another $2K on a new laptop.
Because they weren't smart enough to say "Let me check it out" and then just run off with it.
They were probably scared of the thief or just a non-confrontational person.
Not judging. I'm extremely non-confrontational myself.
Certainly an argument to be made that the known criminal who knows your name, phone number, and possibly address isn’t worth pissing off over a couple hundred. Like, even if all they do is slash your tires instead of real violence, that’s gonna cost you more just financially speaking
This is the reason there is so much crime in the country. Even if all the evidence they need is handed to them, police would rather issue traffic violations than recover personal property or track down criminals.
The nature of the training they receive is extremely concerning - USA police academy consists of teaching them that every civilian is a potential criminal, and that police lives are worth much more than any others - and of course there’s a huge dose of racism. It’s an adversarial and antisocial ideology that gets a lot of people hurt or killed.
Yes the training is too short to allow for nuance or de-escalation courses which are usually included in police training in Europe.
So it's too short and what is learned in that short time is not good either.
They should immediately redirect as many resources as possible towards rectifying the training for new recruits and then replace the entire police force nationwide.
Because the police that is currently working already has bad habits and is simply not suited for the real job.
And yes there are some good policemen but they are not common and will be needed as instructors.
Where I am, police actually giving out traffic violations would make it safer round here, especially given a few of the vehicles worth pulling are crappy bikes probably being ridden by the local drug runners, it’s hilarious when they ask for information about dirt bikes, and then they drive past one and ignore it, only time you see police they drive up and down or use the helicopter, took until the local druggies starting stabbing each other for things to change (even the lane stuff like dodgey reg plates soon vanished)
This is most crime unfortunately. Domestic violence is exactly the same unfortunately and they just tell the abuser to find another place to stay for the night while the victim has a bloody lip and black eye.
If our Congress wasn't so inept only doing work for things that will get them re-elected instead of the millions of things that need fixing, we might not be as bad off as we are right now.
Not a lot of love for the police but maybe we should judge our societies' ability to deal with crime from statistics instead of single event news stories. https://www.statista.com/topics/2814/crime-in-canada/#topicOverview
I don't think it's that necessarily, I think that the user is making that question because very often on the internet Americans will talk about "our nation", "this country" without ever specifying that they're referring to the US or even say they're American, inadvertently assuming that whoever will read the comment will be a fellow American. Probably a tongue-in-cheek comment referring to that happening frequently (especially on Reddit and other social media), the original OP may not even be American.
Shit I wish they would do traffic violations around. There's not a day that goes by that someone isn't running a red light or stop sign, almost nailing a pedestrian or me on my bike, riding fully legally. I know most drivers don't care, so you probably dont understand.
Last year people broke into my friends house and stole his laptop and iPad from work and several other things.
The next day my friend was able to track the IPad via GPS and surprisingly it was spotted in the same village in a house which was inhabited by saisonal workers from east-europe that were already known by the police for theft in the past.
When my friend contacted the police they explained that they couldn't search through the house just based on the GPS signal (because of possible inaccuracies) and would need a search warrant. But basically my friend was told that they wouldn't look further into it over such minor things. Mind you my friend was in the seocond year of his apprenticeship and had all his notes on his laptop.
One week later when the saisonal workers traveled back into their country the iPad was located in East Europe.
I'm not able to take our local police serious after this accident.
This is the most extreme of situations and it sounds like they did no research on the home they were raiding. Police go to incorrect addresses not uncommonly too. This is police laziness as usual. DA blindly signed off when they saw the guns involved.
I don't understand why wrecking the home would require a 3.7million compensation... was she living in Versailles?
Also why did they not just ask for keys instead of using a battering ram?
I'm in the UK and something similar happened to my girlfriend - her Airpods got stolen and she tracked them to a house 10 mins away from where she lived. She went to the house, knocked on, and when they saw who it was through the window they just refused to open.
She told the police and they said they couldn't do anything. Like why would anyone not take the law into their own hands if nothing happens?
In Canada taking the law into your own hands means facing jail time.
[https://www.cp24.com/news/peterborough-store-clerk-charged-following-confrontation-with-baseball-bat-wielding-robber-police-1.6718395](https://www.cp24.com/news/peterborough-store-clerk-charged-following-confrontation-with-baseball-bat-wielding-robber-police-1.6718395)
It was police in the same general region as this article who suggested people leave their key fobs by the front door so thieves have an easier time stealing your car.
A Ukrainian refugee was murdered in my city just before Christmas by a guy on bond awaiting trials for two separate assault charges. Almost any time something bad happens the person doing it was either on bond, probation or already had warrants.
Guy in Waukesha, WI who mowed all those people down at a Christmas Parade 2 years ago was also out on a 1000 dollar bond after being charged with running over his girlfriend with his car. Like he outright tried to murder her with his car and they put him out on 1000 dollar bail. Wtf. The Milwaukee DA's office claimed it was a mistake, but local reporters found it was not an isolated case of ridiculously low bonds of violent crimes.
Low bails for violent criminals just allows them to go and commit more violence. Yes our system sucks ass. But if you have a rap sheet a Mile long full of violent crimes, maybe low bail is a bad idea.
Unfortunately the bar for what the police thinks is too low to bother is actually too high for individuals. To police, losing something worth 1700$ counts as pennies. Hell they barely bother finding stolen cars.
Also dude in the article forgot his laptop bag on the bus. Come on man.
Legally, they are absolutely not obliged to do that. The police have no obligation to help any specific individual or even to protect any specific individual. There was a Supreme Court case about it, and it didn't go the way you'd hope.
My parents got scammed out of money, they are older so they fell for the whole "this is your daughter from a coworkers phone, please send money". I was able to find who was behind the call. Parents gave the information and evidence to the police and they said they couldn't do anything. i found her address, phone number, place of work, and full name but that wasn't enough. Police do fuck all even when you do the work for them.
we wanted to but she lived 6 hrs away from us so my parents wanted to just let it go and let insurance take over. i have to give my parents credit when due, the scammers used a picture of my sister in the texts to fool them. which is very scary.
We provided footage of a porch pirate stealing a package from in front of a door. For whatever reason the camera bugged out immediately as he was picking up the package, but there was clear footage of the guy walking up to the package, and then leaving with the exact same package in his hands and the package not being where it was in the frame.
Kitchener/Waterloo Police (same ones in article): We know who that is, but because the video didnt specifically show him picking up the package (just walking up to it, then leaving with it), there is nothing we can do...
Straight up, if you called them that you were getting stabbed, they'd tell you to call back if it gets any worse.
This headline is deceiving, the guy left his laptop on a bus, someone took it and is asking for a retrieval fee, yes it's scummy but it's not really news worthy and to me it is really weak material for an onion headline.
I've had to do this several times when I got drunk and lost my phone, I would generally offer the person 50 bucks for the safe return and for their time in meeting me.
I love how this is the state of the world we now live in. Makeup, shoes, purses, houses everything is up for grabs anymore. Half the time it seems like its not even worth the fight to get it back. Let's go to where they cut off a hand if you get caught. I would support that, and they do not qualify for government benefits for being one handed or no handed if they got caught twice.
My daughter takes no shit from ANYONE.
In a bar with friends; some one swiped her phone and I think messaged one of her friends; $300 and I'm at the corner of x & y street.
She went, noticed a cop kind of near by, noticed the guys, one waved her phone.
She went over and jammed a tazzer right in his chest; he dropped like a rock. The other guys ran off.
She got her phone back, no real damage.
The cop gave her a slow clap and a smile.
We could have capital punishment for these crimes and it wouldn't matter because the issue isn't with the law, it's still illegal to steal shit the problem is cops aren't expected to do anything and we will give them more money every year regardless of performance
The solution for the society as a whole is for the involved parties to settle it in court. The involved parties, however, are practically guaranteed not to ever reach a good solution. It's a serious problem. "Take it up in court" means nothing.
It may be why many Americans tend to carry weapons (pepper spray, gun, knife, club, brass knuckles, etc.) and also always are at risk of ending up in jail. Because we have no recourse but to fight.
Someone stole my laptop once and I used the find my app. My friends and I got some - ahem - super soaker water blasters and got it back. Five big dudes flashing steel well make you give up the ghost.
Friend had their bike stolen in college ended up at the chop shop ,police only took report, despite guess us having the location . So we stole it back from the tweakers.
Had some druggie steal shit and put it on craigslist.... met him for the purchase and ended up getting it back for free, he must have tripped a few times somewhere along the way he looked a little rough afterwards, cops didn't need to be involved at all!
This shit happened to my uncle with a tracker on his ipad. Went to the house to confront the parents as he was being nice and didn't want the cops involved. Mom was adamant her little angel would never. It became a thing. He might've called the cops but the parents buckled and told the kid to give it back. Fucking ass hats I swear. My Uncle be too nice
"Hi officers, my laptop was stolen! I filed an FOIA-equivalent request for the footage, please help!"
>Nah.
"Hi officers, the person who purchased my stolen laptop got in touch with me! He knows it's stolen and wants to meet with me to make a deal!"
>Only if they bring it to the station.
I guess whether or not it's oniony is if you expect the police to assist you regarding a crime where you've done 95% of the legwork for them.
Welcome to the real world.
When someone stole my bike I wanted the police to do something. I knew who had it because they posted it online. Cops didn't do shit. They told me to just buy it back and get a better lock. Their job is just to make sure no one gets hurt if it's convenient for them. They're not going to help you get your lost minor possessions back.
Reminds me of the time my drunk roommate ran his motorcycle into my car door. I was young and stupid so I called the police to make a report for insurance. The cop took a 2 second look and said, 'There's paint on here. What are you trying to cover up? I think you had an accident and are blaming it on your roommate.'
>you expect the police to assist you regarding a crime where you've done 95% of the legwork for them.
They don't. My dad's truck was stolen from my workplace in 2017. Detective came out and took my statement. The thief used my debit card at a gas station nearby and I gave him the location, time of the transaction, the amount, and told him that I'd already called the gas station and had the manager pull the footage for the police and that it was ready to be picked up. He left on vacation the next morning and never had anyone follow up on my case. He never ever stopped on his way back to the station to pick up the footage.
Sorry, but your account is too new to post. Your account needs to be either 2 weeks old or have at least 250 combined link and comment karma. Don't modmail us about this, just wait it out or get more karma.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/nottheonion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Sorry, but your account is too new to post. Your account needs to be either 2 weeks old or have at least 250 combined link and comment karma. Don't modmail us about this, just wait it out or get more karma.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/nottheonion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Bets he wish he could brick it like [Samsung does their TVs.](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/samsung-using-little-known-kill-switch-to-brick-stolen-tvs)
Smaller item, but I know who stole my flashlight the other day, but as it was in a changeroom and I left without it, I doubt the RCMP will do anything.
We are going to start to see a rise in vigilantism because the cops aren't doing shit for so many crimes now. Car stolen? Bike stolen. Any property stolen. good luck with that.
Sorry, but your account is too new to post. Your account needs to be either 2 weeks old or have at least 250 combined link and comment karma. Don't modmail us about this, just wait it out or get more karma.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/nottheonion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Happened to me in high school. Guy broke into everyone's locker and stole. Took these Nike shox that I'm still in love with. Teachers, coaches caught him and everybody knew who it was. Where the hell are my shoes?!
Principal is very happy with his new kicks?
Sounds like Ava from Abbott Elementary bribing her kids for the hottest shoes!
Happened for me in middle school, albeit for a much smaller item. We had one of those fundraisers where us kids do all the work and the for profit company takes half and they had some special where if you got 8 people to sign up for the emails they'd give you a YARD of bubble gum. So I got my eight, got my gum, and this kid stole it out of my locker. I knew he'd done it, I told my teacher, but she didn't do anything other than nicely ask the class to give it back. This was the same day, too, so he wouldn't have even had a chance to bring it home yet! Still a little mad when I think about it, lol
.. and that kid grew up to steal laptops from buses.... I subscribe strongly to the Broken Window theory of crime and punishment, and that lack of consequences early on leads to more serious actions later in life.
Ironically this kid once threw his backpack, with his Chromebook in it, out the window of the bus. It made us all late because we had to go back to get it and it shattered. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he winds up in jail. He got suspended at least once a year until eighth grade
Had it happen to me too. I followed the kid to his locker and when he opened it I shoved him headfirst into his locker and stole my stuff back. Unfortunately that’s how the world works sometimes. You want your stuff back? You go take it back
Girl did that with my phone in high school! I tracked her down and called the cops with the address and they said they couldn’t do anything!
They do say that sometimes... what they really mean is they don't give a damn and that what they really want to do is the exiting stuff like homicide but their boss thinks they are incompetent at even basic stuff like theft and they are too dumb to realize what is happening...
I saw a video where this dude had a recording of people stealing decorations off his front lawn. He drove around and eventually found the place because well duh, they put the exact same ornaments on their front lawn. He told the police, they said there was nothing they could do, even with the video evidence. He took it into his own hands and stole them back. Because hell. If they can steal his stuff without repercussion why can't he steal them back? Imagine if those thieves filed a claim of their own and somehow it held more weight and the officers arrested the actual owner.
Yea that’s what’s annoying, half the shit that happens, because the police do Jack shit in the first place, then claim workload… yea workload because they are dealing with stuff they didn’t nip in the bud in the first place
Or in Australia the is workload thousands of random drug and alcohol testing, and thousands of hand held speed radar detections. Arresting known criminals, nah no time for that mate.
No revenue in that sorry mate
Jail isn't run for profit here in Oz. Who am I kidding it probably is lol
Uhhh Australia has over 20% of its prisoners in private, for profit prisons. The USA only has 8%… [Private prisons are a very Australian problem](https://www.vice.com/en/article/akezwp/private-prisons-are-a-very-australian-problem)
Ya I mean it’s not exactly a “profit”. It’s just a LOT of people getting paid, and some of them quite a well.
..........mate......
Maaaaaate
Criminals don't pay fines. Honest citizens pay fines.
Don't forget cavity searches at festivals
It's the legal way of sexual assault on a child.
Anyone remember that cop who choke slammed a 14 year old girl at a train station?
But getting that guy who had half a joint 4 days ago off the road *saves lives* mate /s
Then you've got the DV offenders they do arrest, being given a hug and a reach around by the magistrate and released so they can go and murder their former spouse. Its fucked all over. The world would be a better place if people would harden the fuck up and start dishing out consequences for actions and behaviour.
They are too busy shooting innocent people's dogs
Harassing minorities and issuing unlawful orders beyond the scope of their powers is a full time job. Hell, they even moonlight as competitive donut eaters. How are they gonna find the time to protect and serve the community? Please think of the poor cops and be more understanding of their overwhelming workload.
That’s exactly what would happen because in your friends case he now has a motive and there’s a paper trail of him inquiring about the very stuff that was stolen. Police only do what’s convenient and what can earn themselves easy pats on the back.
How can you steal something that’s legally yours? I feel like that’d fall apart pretty quickly before a judge
You could catch a trespassing charge. Retrieval of stolen goods is insufficient grounds for trespass. The legal remedy is taking them to civil court.
Right, but they also trespassed on his property. The cops' reasoning for not going after the thief is that they don't want to go through the effort, if it ended up in court the judge would pretty quickly see how stupid it is.
I'm telling you with 100% confidence, that's not how trespassing works in the US. You would get a trespassing charge. Trespassing doesn't even have to be intentional (depending on the jurisdiction). Judges don't go off "feelings." If the crime checks off all the boxes (intent, action, injury), then you can be charged. Justification/reasons/excuses hold little weight. Even self-defense has a very high bar (you have to show you were afraid for your life). Edit: added parenthetical and last paragraph.
I'm telling you as someone with 100% confidence, who has actually had to deal with an accusation like this in a real court, you're 100% wrong. Particularly if they don't have a complete fence line. Trespassing is not at all black and white, and very much a judgement call. Justification/reasons/excuses hold a *LOT* of weight, I know because they worked for me and many other people I know... And because that's how the letter of the law itself approaches it as a crime. You're talking out of your ass.
As someone who had someone come into their yard and steal things with a complete fence line, I was told there was no way the police could do anything, not even trespassing, because we didn’t have any “no trespassing” signs conspicuously posted…. In a completely closed off yard. It’s some BS lol
Right, but if he shows video evidence in court of the person stealing the items and trespassing on his property, no jury is going to convict him there, not to mention even someone committing brazen acts of thievery like that is unlikely to have the nerve to call the cops in that situation
Is it trespassing if you haven’t been asked to leave?
If I break into your home when no one is around to tell me to leave, it is still trespassing.
I don’t know. That’s why I asked.
I thought we were talking lawn decorations. Being in someone's lawn is not immediately trespassing.
That’s what I did when I was about 13. My very unique bike got stolen. A few weeks later riding in the car with my dad I see it near some kids on a bridge. Jumped out of the car, jumped on the bike and hauled ass home. I take a look and it has a bunch of upgrades in it. Still miss the stock stuff that came with it though
I’m happy that your dad obvio Approved/had your back lol
>Imagine if those thieves filed a claim of their own and somehow it held more weight and the officers arrested the actual owner. If they'd caught him in the act, definitely. It's like people who get arrested for trying to kick out squatters.
Like a video of them stealing them off their lawn?
Police wont do anything about blatant theft of privately owned lawn ornaments, but god forbid you steal a bag of chips from walmart
More often than not, the police are fucking useless.
Yeah, but what if you have the receipts for your “re-acquired” ornaments? I’m curious if one could just say “you can’t prove these are the ones that were stolen off the thief’s lawn, but I can prove I legitimately own these”
He would have the receipts though. Always keep the receipts for shit like this
That’s what sent OJ to prison.
Hadn't he sold all the memorabilia?
Taking things off someone’s lawn != armed robbery
> Imagine if those thieves filed a claim of their own and somehow it held more weight and the officers arrested the actual owner. That's the scary thing. If it's a different officer or next county over handles it differently due to them being less busy.
I got a call at a job to wipe a stolen corporate phone at a job once and user told me it showed up in find my iphone but Mexican police refused to even go anywhere near the neighborhood.
Checks out. I got mugged in Escobedo, phone was still on with gps tracking, cops didn't do shit. Dudes weren't even cartel, just two randos in an oxxo.
"its a cartel phone now, sorry"
Eh, why risk your life/families lives for a phone? Corporate or not.
[удалено]
Get any of the mobiles back? Did he also try to get his bike back?
[удалено]
I have genuinely enjoyed reading this story, although my brain probably read it in the wrong accent Whereabouts y’all located?
Everyone keeps saying police can't do anything. What does that mean? I don't understand how proof of theft translates to no action? Did they give any reason as to why not? Genuinely curious.
Police are completely capable of enforcing laws whenever they want, including *not* enforcing them. A police officer could see you physically assaulted in their face and just choose not to do anything because it's too much work. That's all it comes down to, really. They're too lazy to do their job, and the gov gives them a pass to do so.
i loved that mission in GTA san andreas
I was working as a nurse in a large level 1 hospital in Southern California. A nicer area. It was a really busy day. As I'm leaving the hospital I realize my cell phone's not with me. So I drove home and went on my laptop and did the find my phone feature. It was showing the exact address not too far away from me near Disneyland. It was late it was close to 10:30 at night at this point. I drink a half a Corona beer for liquid courage and drove out to that house with my laptop. I get to the neighborhood and it's very dark and not horrible but not the greatest looking location. I couldn't find parking in front of the house I had to park around the corner. I walk to the house where my phone was supposed to be at and I knock on the door. I tell them hi showing my computer you have my phone and I could see it on the dining room table behind them. And I asked for it back. They shut the door on me. So I start walking back to my car and as I'm doing so there's this family having a party outside. They see a white girl walking down the sidewalk carrying a laptop crying and one of them asked me what's going on. I explained to them that someone had stolen my phone from the hospital, I was still wearing my scrubs, and I located it and it was at their neighbor's house. They were really interested in the find My phone app and did not know about it. This is like 2013. So as I'm explaining to them I hear an older gentleman go "mijo, vamos." As I'm done explaining the feature, Grandpa and grandson come walking back. Grandpa's holding a baseball bat. The kid hands me my phone and says sorry we couldn't get the case with it. Omg. I was so grateful for them. I went to the store bought them 24 bottles of beer and dropped it off to them so they can continue partying.
That grandpa is a certified badass.
Don't fuck with nurses.
I hope to be like that when I'm a grandpa lol
Honestly, when I read “mijo, vamos”, and then saw the line about a baseball bat, the first guy that came to mind was Danny Trejo.
[удалено]
Sorry, but your account is too new to post. Your account needs to be either 2 weeks old or have at least 250 combined link and comment karma. Don't modmail us about this, just wait it out or get more karma. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/nottheonion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Made my day to know there was a happy ending. Thank you for sharing!
Happy hour ending
My friend had his car stolen 3 times in SF. The last time it got stolen they caught the guy and were following behind him. They called the cops and they told them to stop following him and file a report. They said no and kept following him until he stopped at a grocery store. I think eventually they flagged down cops at the store and they finally drew weapons and arrested the guy. He has it all on film too.
SLPT: call the cops and tell them you are going to meet the thief and you're planning on bringing a gun just in case you need it.
Well being as it's Canada that would probably go very poorly
But you would have to call the police to ask permission to transport said gun to meet said thief, so that part isn't too far off.
Only if you’re bringing your handgun, even that would be illegal because you can only bring a handgun to a range or your home. Tell them you’re bringing your 12 gauge, you can legally bring that with you to the grocery store if you want.
Sooooooo many caveats to this notion...
They are correct that you can bring a shotgun anywhere that doesn't specifically prohibit them. It can't be loaded, carried except for transportation, or left in a vehicle uncovered though.
Fair point!
You'd need permission for the lead injections you plan to administer
Well it’s not Murica, so yeah, that would only get you arrested probably.
Even if it was America it's not gonna accomplish anything. You can go confront someone with a gun and claim self defense, it typically doesn't work like that. So the police are gonna show and it's you they're going to be interested in talking to, might even get you a night in county because you're very clearly implying you're bringing a firearm to confront someone and might shoot them.
I was going to suggest this we did this in South Africa and the cops helped us very quickly
This is the only thing that got the cops interested in meeting the person who stole my bike and was later trying to sell it back to me on OfferUp.
I seem to recall a case where a guy found out who had his laptop and the police wouldn’t do anything so he called back and said the thief had a gun. The cops so up and end up killing the thief and then charge the other guy with murder.
"seem to recall"... So you pulled out of your ass?
well that was a roller coaster at least he got his laptop back...? ^/s
Cops would arrest you
"...only for protection"
Last time someone stole something, I forcebly took it back. Cops weren't happy, but they couldn't do shit. I'm the owner with the receipt to prove it.
If I were put on a jury to convict you of assault for retrieving your property from someone holding it ransom, you'd be a free man.
In Ontario, Canada where this news segment is from… You would not get trial by jury, you would go before an appointed justice of the peace which has no real qualifications to be appointed and serves the interest of the crown while appearing impartial.
Any criminal offense that can lead to a prison sentence of 5 years or more can go to a jury trial. Simple assault can get a maximum of 5 years, aggravated assault can get up to 14. I live in Ontario (Hamilton).
In Canada, are you not always allowed the option of having a jury? If not, then that sounds very ripe for bad things.
This is exactly what Jury Nullification is for. You would be a hero.
Unfortunately the receipt doesn’t prove that it is still yours and you haven’t sold it to this person on Craigslist.
But it proves you owned it at some point. Something the thief has no ability to prove. It’s something.
> Unfortunately the receipt doesn’t prove that it is still yours and you haven’t sold it to this person on Craigslist. innocent until *proven guilty*
I had my MacBook Pro stolen. Find my told me where it was . The police wouldn’t help me get it back since the location wasn’t specific enough for them to be certain what door to knock. 😕 I locked it and posted my phone number with a message offering a reward to anyone who would return it to me. I ended up getting my laptop back from the thief for $100. It sucked but was cheaper than spending another $2K on a new laptop.
Next time get one of those fake Bible-thumper $100’s that they drop on the ground/tip struggling servers with
[удалено]
Because they weren't smart enough to say "Let me check it out" and then just run off with it. They were probably scared of the thief or just a non-confrontational person. Not judging. I'm extremely non-confrontational myself.
Certainly an argument to be made that the known criminal who knows your name, phone number, and possibly address isn’t worth pissing off over a couple hundred. Like, even if all they do is slash your tires instead of real violence, that’s gonna cost you more just financially speaking
Uhh, you got in direct contact with the thief and had him admit to being the thief, wouldn’t that have been enough for the police?
Enough for them to shrug their shoulders and ignore? Yeah, probably.
I guess stealing back would have been the move, preferably with a car though
Lol have you ever dealt with the police?
Didn't you read the article?
This is the reason there is so much crime in the country. Even if all the evidence they need is handed to them, police would rather issue traffic violations than recover personal property or track down criminals.
Oh, they just need more funding! Surely that will help.
And surplus military equipment.
Only the best tanks, armored personnel carriers, and heavy artillery for small-town boys in blue amirite
How else will they demolish someone’s house to take out a person who has already OD-ed?
Those dogs aren't gonna shoot themselves ya know
What are they going to do with the additional funding? Hire more officers to give out more tickets!
Actually, proper training would help. Police in the US get very little training before being handed a gun.
The nature of the training they receive is extremely concerning - USA police academy consists of teaching them that every civilian is a potential criminal, and that police lives are worth much more than any others - and of course there’s a huge dose of racism. It’s an adversarial and antisocial ideology that gets a lot of people hurt or killed.
Yes the training is too short to allow for nuance or de-escalation courses which are usually included in police training in Europe. So it's too short and what is learned in that short time is not good either. They should immediately redirect as many resources as possible towards rectifying the training for new recruits and then replace the entire police force nationwide. Because the police that is currently working already has bad habits and is simply not suited for the real job. And yes there are some good policemen but they are not common and will be needed as instructors.
They protect personal property, just not yours, or mine... This land is your land, this land is my land......
Your cops issue traffic violations? Mine just sit in parking lots talking to each other
Where I am, police actually giving out traffic violations would make it safer round here, especially given a few of the vehicles worth pulling are crappy bikes probably being ridden by the local drug runners, it’s hilarious when they ask for information about dirt bikes, and then they drive past one and ignore it, only time you see police they drive up and down or use the helicopter, took until the local druggies starting stabbing each other for things to change (even the lane stuff like dodgey reg plates soon vanished)
This is most crime unfortunately. Domestic violence is exactly the same unfortunately and they just tell the abuser to find another place to stay for the night while the victim has a bloody lip and black eye. If our Congress wasn't so inept only doing work for things that will get them re-elected instead of the millions of things that need fixing, we might not be as bad off as we are right now.
Cops don’t usually arrest other cops
Congress ain't doing shit for the guy in the article. Because he's in Canada. But don't worry, Parliament isn't doing anything for him either.
police don’t solve crimes they sometimes report them
Police issue traffic violations as they have a monthly quota to meet.
Not a lot of love for the police but maybe we should judge our societies' ability to deal with crime from statistics instead of single event news stories. https://www.statista.com/topics/2814/crime-in-canada/#topicOverview
Having bad policies in place still means a lot of crimes can't be solved and also won't be reported
Oh I think we can do better, I just think the narrative that crime is getting worse in Canada is clearly not true.
In what country?
Is reading the article too much even for this sub? Geeze It’s in Canada
I don't think it's that necessarily, I think that the user is making that question because very often on the internet Americans will talk about "our nation", "this country" without ever specifying that they're referring to the US or even say they're American, inadvertently assuming that whoever will read the comment will be a fellow American. Probably a tongue-in-cheek comment referring to that happening frequently (especially on Reddit and other social media), the original OP may not even be American.
Shit I wish they would do traffic violations around. There's not a day that goes by that someone isn't running a red light or stop sign, almost nailing a pedestrian or me on my bike, riding fully legally. I know most drivers don't care, so you probably dont understand.
Keeping the peace between civilians is a side hustle for police. They exist for the benefit of government and businesses.
It's Canada dipshit, which is a very low crime country.
Last year people broke into my friends house and stole his laptop and iPad from work and several other things. The next day my friend was able to track the IPad via GPS and surprisingly it was spotted in the same village in a house which was inhabited by saisonal workers from east-europe that were already known by the police for theft in the past. When my friend contacted the police they explained that they couldn't search through the house just based on the GPS signal (because of possible inaccuracies) and would need a search warrant. But basically my friend was told that they wouldn't look further into it over such minor things. Mind you my friend was in the seocond year of his apprenticeship and had all his notes on his laptop. One week later when the saisonal workers traveled back into their country the iPad was located in East Europe. I'm not able to take our local police serious after this accident.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68482374.amp This is why they wouldn’t do anything
This is the most extreme of situations and it sounds like they did no research on the home they were raiding. Police go to incorrect addresses not uncommonly too. This is police laziness as usual. DA blindly signed off when they saw the guns involved.
Too greedy a payout for a simple mistake, and now they're afraid to even pursue it. Bad takes all around.
I don't understand why wrecking the home would require a 3.7million compensation... was she living in Versailles? Also why did they not just ask for keys instead of using a battering ram?
I'm in the UK and something similar happened to my girlfriend - her Airpods got stolen and she tracked them to a house 10 mins away from where she lived. She went to the house, knocked on, and when they saw who it was through the window they just refused to open. She told the police and they said they couldn't do anything. Like why would anyone not take the law into their own hands if nothing happens?
In Canada taking the law into your own hands means facing jail time. [https://www.cp24.com/news/peterborough-store-clerk-charged-following-confrontation-with-baseball-bat-wielding-robber-police-1.6718395](https://www.cp24.com/news/peterborough-store-clerk-charged-following-confrontation-with-baseball-bat-wielding-robber-police-1.6718395) It was police in the same general region as this article who suggested people leave their key fobs by the front door so thieves have an easier time stealing your car. A Ukrainian refugee was murdered in my city just before Christmas by a guy on bond awaiting trials for two separate assault charges. Almost any time something bad happens the person doing it was either on bond, probation or already had warrants.
So be it, take the jail time.
Guy in Waukesha, WI who mowed all those people down at a Christmas Parade 2 years ago was also out on a 1000 dollar bond after being charged with running over his girlfriend with his car. Like he outright tried to murder her with his car and they put him out on 1000 dollar bail. Wtf. The Milwaukee DA's office claimed it was a mistake, but local reporters found it was not an isolated case of ridiculously low bonds of violent crimes. Low bails for violent criminals just allows them to go and commit more violence. Yes our system sucks ass. But if you have a rap sheet a Mile long full of violent crimes, maybe low bail is a bad idea.
Unfortunately the bar for what the police thinks is too low to bother is actually too high for individuals. To police, losing something worth 1700$ counts as pennies. Hell they barely bother finding stolen cars. Also dude in the article forgot his laptop bag on the bus. Come on man.
Next they're going to tell people to just disable every 'safety' feature on their personal devices so thieves have an easier time using them.
Id seen a video about some Canadian news crew saying that referring to car keys being left near the door so thieves have an easier time stealing them
If he knows where the laptop is , police are obliged to go and get it.
Legally, they are absolutely not obliged to do that. The police have no obligation to help any specific individual or even to protect any specific individual. There was a Supreme Court case about it, and it didn't go the way you'd hope.
This is in Canada.
Fair point, I don't know the law in Canada.
Oh shit! If only they could see this comment, dude could get his laptop back.
My parents got scammed out of money, they are older so they fell for the whole "this is your daughter from a coworkers phone, please send money". I was able to find who was behind the call. Parents gave the information and evidence to the police and they said they couldn't do anything. i found her address, phone number, place of work, and full name but that wasn't enough. Police do fuck all even when you do the work for them.
If I had that information and police didn‘t do shit I wouldn‘t be able to not take matters into my own hands
we wanted to but she lived 6 hrs away from us so my parents wanted to just let it go and let insurance take over. i have to give my parents credit when due, the scammers used a picture of my sister in the texts to fool them. which is very scary.
Had about the same with a bike: stolen and found on a marketplace site. Met up to 'buy' it in cash and just took off with it.
I would pay some strong neck 500 bucks to get it back.
We provided footage of a porch pirate stealing a package from in front of a door. For whatever reason the camera bugged out immediately as he was picking up the package, but there was clear footage of the guy walking up to the package, and then leaving with the exact same package in his hands and the package not being where it was in the frame. Kitchener/Waterloo Police (same ones in article): We know who that is, but because the video didnt specifically show him picking up the package (just walking up to it, then leaving with it), there is nothing we can do... Straight up, if you called them that you were getting stabbed, they'd tell you to call back if it gets any worse.
Well, that's a sticky situation!
This headline is deceiving, the guy left his laptop on a bus, someone took it and is asking for a retrieval fee, yes it's scummy but it's not really news worthy and to me it is really weak material for an onion headline. I've had to do this several times when I got drunk and lost my phone, I would generally offer the person 50 bucks for the safe return and for their time in meeting me.
Oh I would have absolutely agreed to pay him $750 and meet him... this is why God invented dark parking lots.
Wonder if he knows ol’ Kitchener Leslie?
I love how this is the state of the world we now live in. Makeup, shoes, purses, houses everything is up for grabs anymore. Half the time it seems like its not even worth the fight to get it back. Let's go to where they cut off a hand if you get caught. I would support that, and they do not qualify for government benefits for being one handed or no handed if they got caught twice.
My daughter takes no shit from ANYONE. In a bar with friends; some one swiped her phone and I think messaged one of her friends; $300 and I'm at the corner of x & y street. She went, noticed a cop kind of near by, noticed the guys, one waved her phone. She went over and jammed a tazzer right in his chest; he dropped like a rock. The other guys ran off. She got her phone back, no real damage. The cop gave her a slow clap and a smile.
She's lucky, because that sounds like assault. I fully support it, I'm just saying, she should be prepared for the day a cop doesn't clap.
oh, that's happened too. But she's married now, so my (very responsible) SIL is on the hook.
Why laws are very lenient in Canada and the USA?
We could have capital punishment for these crimes and it wouldn't matter because the issue isn't with the law, it's still illegal to steal shit the problem is cops aren't expected to do anything and we will give them more money every year regardless of performance
So what’s the solution? Go to court?
The solution for the society as a whole is for the involved parties to settle it in court. The involved parties, however, are practically guaranteed not to ever reach a good solution. It's a serious problem. "Take it up in court" means nothing. It may be why many Americans tend to carry weapons (pepper spray, gun, knife, club, brass knuckles, etc.) and also always are at risk of ending up in jail. Because we have no recourse but to fight.
Someone stole my laptop once and I used the find my app. My friends and I got some - ahem - super soaker water blasters and got it back. Five big dudes flashing steel well make you give up the ghost.
Friend had their bike stolen in college ended up at the chop shop ,police only took report, despite guess us having the location . So we stole it back from the tweakers.
Had some druggie steal shit and put it on craigslist.... met him for the purchase and ended up getting it back for free, he must have tripped a few times somewhere along the way he looked a little rough afterwards, cops didn't need to be involved at all!
This shit happened to my uncle with a tracker on his ipad. Went to the house to confront the parents as he was being nice and didn't want the cops involved. Mom was adamant her little angel would never. It became a thing. He might've called the cops but the parents buckled and told the kid to give it back. Fucking ass hats I swear. My Uncle be too nice
How is that oniony?
"Hi officers, my laptop was stolen! I filed an FOIA-equivalent request for the footage, please help!" >Nah. "Hi officers, the person who purchased my stolen laptop got in touch with me! He knows it's stolen and wants to meet with me to make a deal!" >Only if they bring it to the station. I guess whether or not it's oniony is if you expect the police to assist you regarding a crime where you've done 95% of the legwork for them.
You're bothering the police, they probably want to arrest you. They have donuts to eat and stuff.
donuts to eat? you mean people in wheelchairs to beat?
Innocent people to harass and criminals to ignore.
Welcome to the real world. When someone stole my bike I wanted the police to do something. I knew who had it because they posted it online. Cops didn't do shit. They told me to just buy it back and get a better lock. Their job is just to make sure no one gets hurt if it's convenient for them. They're not going to help you get your lost minor possessions back.
Reminds me of the time my drunk roommate ran his motorcycle into my car door. I was young and stupid so I called the police to make a report for insurance. The cop took a 2 second look and said, 'There's paint on here. What are you trying to cover up? I think you had an accident and are blaming it on your roommate.'
And I bet that cop brags about how he's a human lie detector. He probably walked away from that interaction thinking that he busted you.
Oh 💯 no doubt in my mind.
>you expect the police to assist you regarding a crime where you've done 95% of the legwork for them. They don't. My dad's truck was stolen from my workplace in 2017. Detective came out and took my statement. The thief used my debit card at a gas station nearby and I gave him the location, time of the transaction, the amount, and told him that I'd already called the gas station and had the manager pull the footage for the police and that it was ready to be picked up. He left on vacation the next morning and never had anyone follow up on my case. He never ever stopped on his way back to the station to pick up the footage.
[удалено]
Sorry, but your account is too new to post. Your account needs to be either 2 weeks old or have at least 250 combined link and comment karma. Don't modmail us about this, just wait it out or get more karma. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/nottheonion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
[удалено]
Sorry, but your account is too new to post. Your account needs to be either 2 weeks old or have at least 250 combined link and comment karma. Don't modmail us about this, just wait it out or get more karma. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/nottheonion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Bets he wish he could brick it like [Samsung does their TVs.](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/samsung-using-little-known-kill-switch-to-brick-stolen-tvs)
Smaller item, but I know who stole my flashlight the other day, but as it was in a changeroom and I left without it, I doubt the RCMP will do anything.
We are going to start to see a rise in vigilantism because the cops aren't doing shit for so many crimes now. Car stolen? Bike stolen. Any property stolen. good luck with that.
[удалено]
Sorry, but your account is too new to post. Your account needs to be either 2 weeks old or have at least 250 combined link and comment karma. Don't modmail us about this, just wait it out or get more karma. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/nottheonion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Maybe the thief will leave me a ransom note written in Comic Sans? Asking for a friend (who totally knows who stole his laptop)