[dylan604]

>it's easy to say, "police weren't interested"

I’ve had my house robbed, and had evidence from the bank when the robbers tried to use the checkbook to send money through Western Union. They had photos, state issued identification, address, etc of the people collecting the payments. The assigned detective would not read an email or respond to voice mails. The detective said he was too busy to read emails.

Not sure that’s the piece of evidence to hang my hat on that this might be a hoax.

[ironcan]

This is something you hear all the time, why?

[dylan604]

Think of the number of people living in a large city, and compare that to the number of police officers in that city. It is a tiny percentage of "trained" people asked to protect the citizens. There is only so much you can do, only so many places you can be at one time. An investigation looking into stolen property requires so much effort for so little return. I would be very interested in knowing the number of open cases at any one time a single cop is expected to have to handle. I'd be willing to bet we'd all be surprised by the number. Just like any other profession, as you become senior, the tendency to become jaded is probably even more likely as a cop. We all want them to solve our specific need just like an episode of CSI or whatever, but that's not real. Being too busy to read email sounds just like a guy that is just waiting out his time for his pension. Oh, and there is a significantly larger than 0 percent chance that as they go about doing their job that they could be harmed if not killed. Would you be willing to take on that risk for something like stolen personal items that is covered by insurance?

[rebbie]

You can try to press charges yourself. The police really don't want to help in such cases but I've found that once they know you are serious and have the proper evidence/witnesses they will at least steer you in the right direction.

[jboy55]

You can't press charges yourself. You can go directly to the DA with your evidence and hope they press charges, but there is no role for you as a citizen to instigate a criminal preceding.

https://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2015/12/pressing-charges-w...

You could sue them in court.

[dylan604]

Getting robbed is just the opening salvo in getting fleeced. The second round is the insurance company. Yes, I know insurance fraud exists, so one way the insurance companies "protect" themselves is to issue a check for a fraction of the value of the items stolen. They know most people will not replace the stolen items. If you do replace the items, then you have to re-submit your claim with the receipt to show it was actually replaced. They will then decide if they want to reimburse the difference from the original payout.

You're also left pretty defeated with the lack of response from the police, then you have the beat down with the insurance company. Asking the individuals to go after a civil suit is just too much. Had I known about it, I might have done it. The police nor the insurance ever suggested this was possible. Even still, what are the odds of actually receiving any payment from a civil suit win?

[vkou]

This is why I don't insure my personal property. The probability of theft * the amount of payout will unlikely exceed the cost of insurance.

Generally, unless you know more then the insurer about your risk factors, and can afford to eat the loss, you should be self-insuring your stuff.

[jboy55]

My 'sue them' should have almost had a /s on it. It would be pointless suing someone with little or no assets. Its the only thing you can do, by yourself, within the courts as a private citizen.