Well, I dont know what the law is in the US
In the UK if you want to claim on insurance for something you have to have a crime reference - even if the police just give it to you over the phone.
So anything I had insured I would report to the police. Where I used to live I was burgled three times, I reported the first two but not the last one, as not enough was taken to claim for than the excess on the policy
If I witnessed a property crime of any kind that wasnt me then I doubt I would get involved - its none of my business.
Same with people dealing drugs, hooking, moving stolen goods or fake ID or whatever - couldnt care less about it. The guy who used to live above me dealt and it didnt bother me either way. The only time he ever bothered me was when he threatened to damage my (£200 value) car if I didnt pay him. This was a guy who drove a two year old BMW probably worth £10000 which he parked RIGHT NEXT TO MY CAR.
And that is to me the crux of things.
I dealt with that issue on a personal level.
It is criminal to demand money with menaces of me, as he did. If I reported it to the police it wouldnt have done any good.
The only solution was to deal with personally. If I felt too scared of him to stand up to him the best thing to do is pay - because the police wont do fuck all about something like that. And I felt that I could stand up to him the best thing to do is have a conversation with him and persuade him that threatening to damage my car is not in his best interests after all, as such actions would have a consequence.
While I dont doubt that many policeman are honest individuals in their personal lives, for myself I dont trust the police and keep my dealings with them to a minimum.
Unless we are talking about being a witness to a very serious crime (a rape or a murder of a woman or child) - my view is that it is normally best to stand up for yourself, or if you cant just take it on the chin.
If you burgled reporting it the police for the sake of a crime reference (and in my own experience the police will often give you some recovered stolen property back even if it isnt yours exactly) - thats common sense
In terms of other stuff - my own feeling is deal with it yourself.
---------- Post added at 07:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:41 PM ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cynthetiq
I report when it makes sense to report. I'd report this, because well, this individual sounds like an opportunist not really a thief until the opportunity presents itself.
I reported my car getting broken into when it was parked on the street. Nothing was taken, but I wanted there to be documentation that this happened for insurance AND for the community.
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Erm.... wouldnt that just INCREASE your insurance premium?? (and all of the people in your post code?)
Because as far as I know, when you have fully comp insurance they take into account any reported TDA's and breaking into cars etc and charge you more the more you have. Plus I think it affects your premiums personally?
So... reporting it for the sake of your insurance is just costing you more money next year?
For the sake of you wont get anything back and you know full well the police wont spend one minute even thinking about it after you file your report.