My recent law enforcement experience.

[dodge man]

I was reading another thread and read some negative comments about LEO and thought I would share my recent experience with them.

Long story short my daughter left a small coin purse behind at a local restaurant. A lady picked it up and took my daughters debit card and cleaned out her bank account. I'm talking down to the last penny. It wasn't a lot of money but was about $300. My wife caught the withdrawls the next day and we contacted the police right away. At that time we weren't sure if she lost it or if it got stolen. They filled out a report and to be honest figured there wouldn't be any follow up. They assigned a detective to the case.

The lady that used the debit card wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer as she used the card at 3 local business's. They had her on camera and someone that worked at one of the stores knew her. They caught her and she confessed. The bank covered the lost money but I made it clear to the bank and the police I thought this entire thing was a waste of time if they didn't prosecute. We were also worried that maybe a friend of my daughters or someone at her school may have committed the crime but it was a random stranger. I think what bothered me was the deliberate way they cleaned out her account. The last store they went to was a tobacco store and they tried to buy too many packs of smokes so they kept taking a pack off until the debit card worked.

This all took place about 3 months ago and yesterday we got a letter in the mail saying they were going to prosecute and my daughter may have to testify.

I'm impressed by local law enforcement taking what it really a pretty small crime and following up on it, catching the person and then actually prosecuting the person. I don't want to see this lady do hard time but there has to be some kind punishment or there is no deterrent. Overall LEO was very professional and courteous to us and I hope my daughter learned something from this.

 

[MoKelly]

Interesting.

Now, lets see how the prosecuters and Court system deals with something like this given the amounts involved.

MoKelly

 

[davesl708]

It is great that they prosecute even the small crimes. Sends a message.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

About 10 years ago, my daughter had her purse stolen. She knew the girl who took it. The thief went to a local Sams Club the nexy day and purchased a $2000 big screen TV, and hit a few other stores along the way. She also wrote out the rest of my daughter's checks. We called the Tulsa police and they were not interested.

We contacted Sam's Club and explained the theft. The store manager pulled his video and had the girl red-handed on tape. We again called the Tulsa police who were still not interested. As a result, my daughter's credit is destroyed and she still cannot write a check.

If you're looking for a completely useless law enforcement agency ... look no further than Tulsa, Oklahoma.

 

[ThomasH]

Wow! That is a good story. Around here (Atlanta), the police won't even come out unless there is life threatened, you have to go to the police station and fill out a report. So smaller crimes go on and on at much higher levels, until the criminal graduates to much bigger crime. I remember reading last month about somebody that had 20+ DUIs and driving without a license and had finally killed someone in a head on collision in the middle of the night because he was driving the wrong way drunk. You might think that he had spent a long time in jail but you would be wrong. Too crowded in jail, so they let him out quickly each time on work release, parole, or early release for good behavior.

So I wish the police around here would patrol the streets like they used to, and respond to smaller crime.

 

[TripleR]

It is good to see something positive for a change and I'm glad it worked out so well. My daughter had a similar situation happen several years ago and it literally took years for her to get it resolved and her credit rating only got back to normal after a lot of work on her part as well as the police.

Like any profession there are incompetents or those who don't care, but I've worked in metropolitan areas to rural and oftentimes it is not a matter of what the officials want to do, but what they can afford to or are allowed.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

My daughter must have received 40 or 50 collection threats in the mail because of the identity theft. Initially, we responded politely. Eventually, it got pretty awful. I wrote a narrative of the theft, our efforts, and the lack of police response, including officer's names, dates, a copy of my filed police report and the phone number of the Tulsa Police Department. That was forwarded to each and every collector, business and credit company involved. After about 2 years we stopped receiving the harassment. The police never did anything. The thief is probably still enjoying her new TV. My daughter lives with destroyed credit.

But ....... all of this is a bit off-thread ....... Just wanted to put a check-mark in the Tulsa Police Suck column

 

[kcflhrc]

I guess I will add my positive story because I believe for the most part law enforcement does the best they can.

My son got hit at an intersection by one of those south of the border folks. The guy had no insurance and no drivers license. But some how was here on a work permit or some BS. Him and his buddies were laughing when I went to pick my son up. I was fuming mad as you can imagine. I contacted an attorney the following week, he said don't waste your time and money. So I took his advice and got the car fixed on my dime. A couple weeks after the accident the county prosecutor contacted me. They wanted to know if I wanted to pursue the issue, I said **** yes. They took the guy to court, I didn't even have to show up, and they made him pay for the damage over the course of a few months. I got a check every month until it was paid for.

Glad I don't live in Tulsa

 

[kcflhrc]

Double post

 

[Bird]

oftentimes it is not a matter of what the officials want to do, but what they can afford to or are allowed.

Many things go on that people don't know about or understand, and I can't blame them. I only spent 15 months as a sergeant, during which time I had 6 detectives to supervise in a burglary and theft unit. Things are not the way they are shown on TV or in movies. I assigned each of those detectives an average of 3 new cases A DAY and they had to contact the victim and submit a handwritten supplement (follow-up report) on each case, even if the narrative was simply "no additional information". Now if they had a case in which they could get a search warrant or arrest warrant and prepare a case report to go to the prosecutors, it might take all day for ONE case. So now that detective has 2 left over and tomorrow I'm going to give him 3 more.

It was an incredibly frustrating 15 months, even with good detectives who were doing their best.