Hard to say, but in most urban jurisdictions the gang squad reviews such incidents to identify known actors. Not that anyone has enough resources to pick up, process and prosecute every petty thief in a large community, but they do their best. This sort of thing sounds to a non-LE like something a tagger gang novice or wannabe might do. If one of them was reckless enough to expose identifying features, they can go to the prints and occasionally get a confirming package together. Then, unless they need to suppress a bad habit developing, they can shortcut prosecution for this particular act and have a private talk that results in a new intelligence source. They can in turn use such sources to identify more serious bad actors after worse crimes, ranging from home burglaries up to murders.

You do what you can when resources are too limited to do the job you'd like to do.

Gary

 

Well, I live in a sleppy suburb so I doubt there's a gang task force. This happened at the Bart parking lot and te have their own private police force.

 

My car was broken into a few years back and over $2k worth of stereo equipment was stolen. I asked the officer what was invovled in the investigation. His reply was, "What investigation? That's why you have insurance". He said they just don't have the manpower to investigate non-violent crimes.

 

Definitely sounds like a local variation that depends on not only resources but also the attitude of the local commander for the jurisdiction. I can't decide whether I'm surprised that BART isn't more aggressive about pursuing such problems.

We're pretty rural ourselves, but not what you'd call sleepy when it comes to law enforcement. Our local sheriff is pretty good about such things.

For example, stealing from home mailboxes had become so common we quit using our box to mail anything outbound. (Nothing important ever comes in by mail these days. Just magazines and junk mail. Well, the occasional jury duty notice.) Technically, that's a federal offense, but you can imagine the interest level from the FBI these days. The traditional "sanctity of the mail" seemed to die with thrice-daily deliveries sometime in the fifties.

The local station commander seemed to take it as a serious crime, as it truly was fifty years ago (before he was born [sigh]), even though the mailboxes are technically not his jurisdiction. After eighteen months of annoying low level repetition of this crime, a couple of his patrol cars "just happened to be in the area" when some people were snatching, sorting, and tossing the remains of the day from their car. And the deputies "just happened" to know their connections and traced the crime back to the local sponsor of the raiders. Problem solved. Only for now of course, but law enforcement is necessarily a matter of treading water most days.

In any case, their attitude of "just happening" to stumble across some perpetrators the feds considered it too much trouble to pursue was much appreciated. I hope you get equally lucky with a local commander some day. I do know that many of the deputies have a fondness for exotics and one of the local California highway patrol officers is in our CAI branch of PCA. That's a charming trait for LE's in my view.

Gary

 

My local pd is great. But the Bart cop told me that he alone is responsible for three stations on each shift. He suggested I file a formal complaint requesting security cameras. He did say that the caught someone red handed three days prior just by luck. My local cops actually set up a sting on craigslist when my neighbors music equipment was stolen from his car from his driveway. There's barely any crime here and that's one if the reasons we moved here, main reason being the schools.

The problem is we are just over the hill from Oakland and just around the bend from Richmond, both of which have high crime.
I grew up in those areas and worked hard and made good choices.... That and a little luck have enabled me to put my kids in a better enviorment. Many of the kids I grew up with went in other directions in life and I can tell you first hand that it eventually catches up. It might be drugs, prison or just getting in with a crowd that's willing to take it furthur than you can, but the devil always gets his due. (last sentence intended without religious conotation)!

I guess it just keeps me motivated to keep barreling down the track that I've laid out for myself.

 

Yeah, but as was stated, had you had a self destruct or other invasive defense mechanism in play that maimed the thieves, then the state would use DNA to put you in jail. Say what you will, but there is something about the Muslim punishment for thievery that is appealing.

Tis also why I'd never use a park-n-ride arrangement unless I can bike/walk to the station. Why someone would drive a car to a spot where everyone knows that your not going to be around between 10 and 4 , and there is no provided security for the parked vehicles, is beyond me. At least in the US. In some Swiss village, I don't see there being a problem driving to the station and staying parked there. Near Oakland.. parking outside your own house is a risk.