Yet another law enforcement question for those of you in the know

[gregintenn]

A contractor on my project recently had a problem with materials being stolen from the job site. It was galvanized steel, easily identifiable, and sold to a local scrapyard.

 

He locates it, and asks to gets part of it back. the rest had already been hauled off, or whatever they do with it.  The scrapyard makes him get a police report, which he does, and then has to pay scrap price to get it back.

 

The scrapyard would not tell him who sold it to them, although they have a license and thumbprint of the thief.

 

The police have done nothing but print a report, and indicate that's all they intend to do.

 

This seems like B.S. to me. I am not familiar with how law enforcement works, but shouldn't they arrest the thief or something?

 

I this is how law enforcement works, why do we have law enforcement?

Edited February 5, 2015 by gregintenn

[monkeylizard]

If it's easily identifiable as his, then I would think he should file a stolen property report against the scrapyard. If the local PD won't get involved, would the TBI or State Police be the next stop?

Edited February 5, 2015 by monkeylizard

[DaveTN]

No, that’s not how it works. If the material can be identified it is either returned to the owner or seized as evidence. I wouldn’t pay the scrap yard a dime, and if I was the responding Officer they would give the name of who brought it in or they would be arrested also. Sounds like someone is giving you a BS story.

[Mike.357]

or maybe the police just don't care.   I am sure they feel there are bigger fish to fry than a thieving pillhead.   

 

I would not be surprised if the scrap yard knew it was stolen.   Pawn shops know when they are dealing with a thief and they don't care.

Edited February 5, 2015 by Mike.357

[gregintenn]

No, that’s not how it works. If the material can be identified it is either returned to the owner or seized as evidence. I wouldn’t pay the scrap yard a dime, and if I was the responding Officer they would give the name of who brought it in or they would be arrested also. Sounds like someone is giving you a BS story.

I was there when we discovered it stolen, and when the officer came and took notes for a police report. This officer took his notes back to the office for a detective to create a report. I saw the report. I did not ride with the contractor to pick the material up, but did see a receipt where he paid for it, and the material in his truck when he returned.

 

He figured it was cheaper to pay the $40 than it was to reorder the material, which would have costed several thousand.

 

The contractor would prefer to work and make money rather than spend countless fruitless hours dealing with the sherrif's department and then court, but he doesn't want to have more material stolen. What should he do?

 

or maybe the police just don't care. I am sure they feel there are bigger fish to fry than a thieving pillhead.

 

Probably so. I guess I just do not understand the nature of their job.

Edited February 5, 2015 by gregintenn

[E4 No More]

I'd think that the local news would be interested in this story.

[MacGyver]

He could file a John doe suit and seek to get a subpoena to find out the name from the scrap place.

 

That said, when you're working for a living, that adds a lot of time and expense that could otherwise be spent making money.

[gregintenn]

I'd think that the local news would be interested in this story.

I'm out on that circus. I'm guessing he feels the same way.

[E4 No More]

I'm out on that circus. I'm guessing he feels the same way.

Police not doing their job would be an interesting topic. EDIT: Especially considering the proplem of theft of other metals in the news.

Edited February 5, 2015 by SWJewellTN

[Pain103]

 In a case like that it would be common for a patrol officer to take the initial report and then it would be forwarded to a detective for investigation and possible charges. Some departments allow the patrol officer to do some initial follow up/investigation in hopes to clear the case without a detective's involvement and some don't. If it went to a detective it is just one case in a stack of many and doesn't take top priority over any of them. Typically these scrap yard cases give good evidence by the license number or thumb print and even some have video showing the person bringing the metal in.

 

  I know someone personally affected will take it as they don't want to do anything but there has to be some order in which cases are handled or nothing would get done if they immediately stopped what they were doing every time a new report came in. Give a few days have him contact who the detective that got assigned the case and ask for an update. If he isn't willing to come to court and prosecute the courts aren't going to do anything except dismiss the charges.

[analog_kidd]

My unprofessional and smartass advice:

 

Go to the scrap yard office and ask for the stuff back one more time. If they refuse, then call 911 and report a robbery and tell them you have the thieves cornered. Then wait for the cops to show up.

[gregintenn]

 In a case like that it would be common for a patrol officer to take the initial report and then it would be forwarded to a detective for investigation and possible charges. Some departments allow the patrol officer to do some initial follow up/investigation in hopes to clear the case without a detective's involvement and some don't. If it went to a detective it is just one case in a stack of many and doesn't take top priority over any of them. Typically these scrap yard cases give good evidence by the license number or thumb print and even some have video showing the person bringing the metal in.

 

  I know someone personally affected will take it as they don't want to do anything but there has to be some order in which cases are handled or nothing would get done if they immediately stopped what they were doing every time a new report came in. Give a few days have him contact who the detective that got assigned the case and ask for an update. If he isn't willing to come to court and prosecute the courts aren't going to do anything except dismiss the charges.

Thanks. This explanation is what I was looking for. :up:

 

This is why I try my best to avoid dealing with law enforcement. The only reason we did this time is that was the only way the scrapyard would let us have the material back.

 

We'd handle it ourselves, but can't get a name from either the yard or the police. I was told he's 32 years old.

Edited February 5, 2015 by gregintenn

[10-Ring]

Something doesn't add up.  I understand why the scrap yard may not be able to give you the thief's information but it seems like law enforcement should be obligated to follow up on this.  It sounds like an open and shut case.  

[runco]

When in the business of making money, sometimes its best to go with the least path of resistance, though wrong, it is what it is. 

[JWC]

Wasn't it stamped? Either way I'm surprised a scrapyard would take it. There's some unscrupulous-ness going on there IMO. They know what stuff is when someone brings it in. The type of items that you would be talking about are easily identified as materials typically belonging to public entities.

I scrapped a dropped and cracked mh casting and I had to convince the guy above and beyond that it wasn't stolen. It wasn't hard but was able to give him the contractor and their pm's contact info as assurance. A meth head would have a hard time with that one unless they just didn't care.

[raildog]

When I lived in Wayne County growing up there was a loger that had people stilling fuel out of his equipment at night so he hired two guys to set in the woods and wach his stuff i found out the hard way one night waching the submarine races

[Lumber_Jack]

We caught guys steeling timber in Bell County Ky, had pictures, license plate, everything. The county Sherifs reply, "it's just a couple trees".

Sometimes they just don't care, they should, but don't

[Motasyco]

waching the submarine races

 

I had to Google that.  That's not what we called it when I was young.

[TN-popo]

No, that’s not how it works. If the material can be identified it is either returned to the owner or seized as evidence. I wouldn’t pay the scrap yard a dime, and if I was the responding Officer they would give the name of who brought it in or they would be arrested also. Sounds like someone is giving you a BS story.

 

Mostly this.

This case is a slam dunk for a "defective."  :)

They like those, as these cases boost their "clearance rates."  I'm really surpised that they're not jumping on this.

This would not be the case where I work. 

 

 

This leads me to a personal / TGO thing.  Sometimes I read anti-cop type posts here and, of course, they're not my favorite.

But understand, I base my LE opinions on where I work, my officers (I supervise 12), and how we do things.  For the most part, I think we get it right.

Apparently, that's not the case across the State...and I have to remind myself of that.

So I guess to say, if you base your LE opinions on personal experience (or close 2nd hand as in this case), good or bad, I'm cool with that.

But the "my brother's wife's cousin's" stories are always silly to me.

 

Sorry, back to the topic...

Edited February 6, 2015 by TN-popo

[leroy]

Sounds like a case of "low priority/dont care" on the part of the local constabulary or a "brother-n-law" transaction at the scrapyard.... Some of the constabulary are doin their jobs and doin them very well --- some aint... Some scrapyards are honest and doin the right thing --- some aint...

 

Casual observation will reveal crime and "dont give a damn" are everywhere...  Sorry ya have to buy your own stuff back... It aint right...

 

leroy

Edited February 6, 2015 by leroy

[monkeylizard]

It also sounds like the OP's contractor got some of his stuff back for $40 and can go about his day. Not right, but probably still more cost effective than taking time away from the job site to file reports and meet with a detective, etc.

 

Sometimes it doesn't pay to be right.

[gregintenn]

Mostly this.

This case is a slam dunk for a "defective."  :)

They like those, as these cases boost their "clearance rates."  I'm really surpised that they're not jumping on this.

This would not be the case where I work. 

 

 

This leads me to a personal / TGO thing.  Sometimes I read anti-cop type posts here and, of course, they're not my favorite.

But understand, I base my LE opinions on where I work, my officers (I supervise 12), and how we do things.  For the most part, I think we get it right.

Apparently, that's not the case across the State...and I have to remind myself of that.

So I guess to say, if you base your LE opinions on personal experience (or close 2nd hand as in this case), good or bad, I'm cool with that.

But the "my brother's wife's cousin's" stories are always silly to me.

 

Sorry, back to the topic...

I guess I'm not very good at expressing myself, and often am labeled as being "anti cop". Sometimes I have earned that title. That wasn't the reason I posted this. I was just curious as to how the system worked, and Pain103 explained it very well.

 

The officer I talked to was very polite and professional, if not very knowledgeable. I can understand that as he was young and probably pretty new to the job.

 

I also understand they have better things to do than to fool with something trivial like this.

 

If you take my post as a personal dig at law enforcement officials, read again and consider it more of a dig against the system you are hamstrung with.

Edited February 6, 2015 by gregintenn

[TN-popo]

I guess I'm not very good at expressing myself, and often am labeled as being "anti cop". Sometimes I have earned that title. That wasn't the reason I posted this. I was just curious as to how the system worked, and Pain103 explained it very well.

 

The officer I talked to was very polite and professional, if not very knowledgeable. I can understand that as he was young and probably pretty new to the job.

 

I also understand they have better things to do than to fool with something trivial like this.

 

If you take my post as a personal dig at law enforcement officials, read again and consider it more of a dig against the system you are hamstrung with.

 

No sir, I wasn't referring to you, or this thread, at all and I never took it as a dig.  This is a legit gripe. 

Sorry if I came across otherwise.  I was just speaking in generalities in the second part of my post.

I'm generally not an LE apologist...I've weighed in on the dip####s as much as I've been pro-cop here.  Every field has them.

 

Me, and my agency, are definitely NOT perfect.  But when I hear stories like your OP, I just shake my head.

 

BTW, I'm assuming the dollar amount puts the theft in the felony range.  I would not consider that trivial at all. 

Regards.

Edited February 6, 2015 by TN-popo