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I have been the victim of several crimes, two of them violent, in two separate major cities - for every one, the police were quite open about the fact that they probably wouldn't catch them. When I was mugged in Manchester (somebody jumped out of a doorway and kicked me in the back of the head), the police asked me to describe my assailant. I got as far as "He was black..." and they closed their note-books and said "Forget it, we'll never find him".
When my front door was crow-barred off in Liverpool, and my flat emptied, they took prints and a statement, and were very careful to give me a crime number so I could claim on my insurance, but the desk-sergeant was very clear that the thieves would never be caught, unless they tried to sell us our own stuff in the pub.
=p
Ha! I called the police after my car was broken into in oakland. They asked if it was happening at that time. I said no. Then they told me to go to their website, print out a report form and mail it in. On their website it says that there would be no response. I used the instructable on how to fume for prints -- and got a partial print off the screwdriver used to break the glass.... ($200 later, I have new rear glass).
A few years ago, two of my tires and two of my parent's tires were slashed. A cop actually came (different city this time), wrote down some information and said they likely won't be able to do anything because the value of damage is below $500 AND that it was considered two separate instances because it was two different cars. If combined, the value would have been high enough to open a file....
A friend of mine had her apartment cleaned out too... Same experience as Kiteman.
My roommate's car was stolen. She had to pay the police because it was impounded.
My buddy's bike was lifted. They even had a photograph of the person going through a toll booth (without paying). Cops said there was nothing they could do.
It's funny, I am aware of all these bad experiences - yet I'm not very paranoid about my possessions. Although, I refused to leave my car in Oakland while I was off at work (a pity because I like biking)....