BBC NEWS London | Police ‘steal’ from unlocked cars — The logic is lost on me. If a copper sees an open car with valuables out they themselves steal it. And, yes, it does get returned. But why doesn’t the cop LOCK THE DOOR and be on his or her way instead?
“It might also be worthwhile for officers to take a photo like traffic wardens.”
The new tactic, launched last month, is aimed at tackling thefts from cars in the area which rose by 40% until July.
Mr Davis, from Richmond upon Thames police, said officers on patrol are only targeting unlocked cars with a valuable item on display.
Officers try to contact the owner, failing which they remove the item and leave a note for the driver to retrieve it from Twickenham police station.
The word steal shouldn’t be in quotes. They are taking stuff without the owners permission, they are crooks no matter what shiny badge they wear.
Returning it isn’t relevant. If I took stuff from cars the cops wouldn’t listen to any talk about whether I returned it or not. They, on the other hand, are above the such concepts as private property.
Whats wrong with leaving your car unlocked to begin with?
And why the hell does anyone believe that this wont involve the “loss” of the some stolen property? Not everyone is honest, and not anyone is perfect. Stuff it bound to come up missing eventually.
Number6 is absolutely correct.
Removal of goods without the owners consent is – in law – theft.
Possession of such goods with the certain knowledge that they are stolen is in itself receiving.
The Crown Prosecution service has a duty in law, in the face of such evidence, to prosecute those involved.
This isn’t a ‘maybe’ or ‘arguable’.
How do you differentiate between those who thieve in such circumstances and a police officer? Answer, you cannot!
Interesting to know whether the Prosecuting authority has agreed not to prosecute beforehand. This being support for a criminal offence, therefore also illegal and attracting prosecution.
This “good deed” really doesn’t pass the smell test. If I were to put coins into parking meters, randomly. Whether they had anyone parked at them or not. I’d still get into trouble with the county (in the USA) for interfering in their revenue collecting scheme. They want meters to expire, so they can write tickets.
So here comes the London cops, testing car doors to see if they’re locked. And when they find one unlocked, they enter it and root around for awhile. Whatever in there that might be valuable, they remove it, then lock up the car. So the owner then has to go see the police to get their valuables back, and probably get a lecture. It smacks of the usual Big Brotherism that England employs.
If the car had been lock, even with valuables in plain sight. They’d just leave it alone. So why not just lock up, and leave a note? Or bag the valuables, in the car (paper bags are cheap), and lock them. The bag could read, “These things could have been stolen, if your police hadn’t been here first to protect you. So wise up”. And at least they’d be out of view of thieves.
And better still, they could be doing some “sting” ops, to nab those that riffle cars of their valuables. But no. Instead they pull this bonehead thing on innocent citizens. To prove they’re “on the job”. Well it’s easier (and safer) than nabbing the thieves, eh?
What’s next? Will the cops bust into locked cars, that have high priced items in plain view. And tell the victims, “The thieves would have done the same, only you wouldn’t be getting your valuables back. Sorry about the window.”
This kind of reminds me of the BBC buying that BotNet and invading people’s computers. Then posting a message on their screen telling the owners that their system was compromised because of their lack of security measures. But the BBC got into trouble for tampering. Apparently the british cops can’t get into trouble for similarly tampering with the contents of private vehicles. And yet if the government starts employing Keylogging, on the public’s PCs to catch criminals. I’ll bet the courts will justify that intrusion too.
Basically, the Government always gets away with doing stuff, the rest of us can’t. Whether it makes any sense to do it or not. And that’s never going to change.
#6 Glen
Oh change can happen from time to time. Let me remind you.
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
The only thing that has changed with Obama is the name of the liar.
I don’t see why everyone took a negative stance against this. I mean cops doing it is kinda sketchy, but I used to do this to my girlfriend after our GPS got stolen out of her car because she left her doors unlocked. I say ‘used to’ because she learned her lesson. She thought she was in BIG trouble because she had gotten our second brand new GPS stolen, when in fact, I’m the one that took it. Now, she locks her doors ALL THE TIME.
When you say, “why doesn’t the cop just lock the door”, I think it’s because of that old saying, “give a man a fish, feed him for a day. teach a man to fish, feed him for life.”
Also sounds like an illegal way to search people’s cars. What do they do if they find drugs or guns?
#7 The only thing that has changed with Obama is the name of the liar.
This is in London, bud. RTFA.
What if the doors were left unlocked on purpose?
It doesn’t matter if the car is locked or unlocked. Entering the car with the purpose of removing an item is still “criminal trespass”, taking an item from the car is still “theft”. Possessing something taken without permission is still “possession of stolen property”.
Cops and crooks are just two sides of the same coin….the rest of us are just innocent bystanders.
If you think the cops in america don’t steal from cars, houses, shops and businesses, you are living with your head in the sand. 75% of cops are dirty and a full 10% have killed someone for money.
#8 Bob
You doing it to your property and to some one you know is perfectly fine. IT IS YOUR PROPERTY that you are doing it to. These police officers have no business touching your things only because your car was unlocked.
The government does not own any of the items they will be acquiring through this. What if I dont have time to go out and get my things back.
They could move this ideology over to homes. Your house was unlocked so we went on in and took things. You can pick them up when you have learned your lesson…
Gimme a break man! If you cant see how your example differs from the blog’s then I think you are more lost then I thought.
#13
You really think there are that many crooked cops?
It depends on what you count as ‘crooked’. Receiving free goods? Looking the other way? Lying under oath/swearing a false statement? Not writing a ticket to a fellow cop/fireman/politician? ‘Fixing’ a ticket for a friend?
I am only a reserve officer, so I guess I don’t count. If you use the above I am sure that almost every cop is dirty. 10% killing for profit is an exaggeration. This is what you get when you build upon a tradition of covering up past wrong doings, they taint the future and the worst thought becomes possible.
This practice sounds like what my high school asst. principal did when the yearbooks where distributed. It was basically a power trip for him then and is probably a power trip for the bobbies now.
Here’s a question: If a security guard did this at factory/building at the directive of the plant/building manager and the “victim” called the police before they retrieved it from the security office, would the police arrest the guard for theft? Yes would be my guess, even if to come on the property the “victim” knew the vehicle was subject to search.