I've seen local law enforcement not bother to investigate high-five- to low-six-figures of thefts from break-ins at multiple offices over a couple-week span by a single crew whose van was caught on camera complete with license plates at more than one of the offices. The cops didn't care.
This was not in one of the cities that allegedly isn't prosecuting crimes anymore, and was before any of that or the defund movement or what have you, and I'm in a red state. I suspect the people who complain about that stuff as if it's new and caused by recent action have just never interacted with the police before—I have plenty of other examples of their not caring to do any amount of investigation of crimes against individuals, too, no matter what evidence is already at hand, going back decades. And zero examples of their actually investigating anything.
This kind of nuisance report you're suggesting wouldn't go anywhere.
I'm genuinely wondering why this isn't something one can do in a situation like this...
Filing a report when your money is stolen from you is a very logical step to take. Whether or not the police will "deal with it" is an entirely different manner.
Some cases get dropped, and others take years to handle - but what are your other options? To go around writing sob stories on random internet blogs? To beg for the attention of strangers online?
Having a formal police report filed documenting a clear timeline of what happened from your point of view, is about exercising your civil rights to protect your property. It's also useful for insurance purposes, for example.
If you're dealing with a financial institution, odds are they're covered in these cases by anti-fraud laws or provisions in your contract/service-agreement anyway. I expect the cops would roll their eyes and tell you to go away unless you want to risk a false-report charge. They probably see a lot of people trying to file reports against institutions for often-bad reasons and don't have much patience for it. On top of that, they usually don't give a shit even when it's a genuine complaint—the only reason to even go to them is to get (heh, around here, purchase, even) a police report for insurance, if that applies.
> "I expect the cops would roll their eyes and tell you to go away"
Maybe they will, and maybe they won't - but surely it's a dialogue worth having once you've exhausted all other options? I'd imagine that the specifics truly matter, and depending on the severity of the case you could be allowed to file a report?
> I've seen local law enforcement not bother to investigate high-five- to low-six-figures of thefts from break-ins at multiple offices over a couple-week span by a single crew whose van was caught on camera complete with license plates at more than one of the offices. The cops didn't care.
I am a reporter and I cover law enforcement & crime. Are you willing to provide more information about this?
This was not in one of the cities that allegedly isn't prosecuting crimes anymore, and was before any of that or the defund movement or what have you, and I'm in a red state. I suspect the people who complain about that stuff as if it's new and caused by recent action have just never interacted with the police before—I have plenty of other examples of their not caring to do any amount of investigation of crimes against individuals, too, no matter what evidence is already at hand, going back decades. And zero examples of their actually investigating anything.
This kind of nuisance report you're suggesting wouldn't go anywhere.