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Comment by markbao | Hacker News Reader

I filed a police report when it was first stolen, and likewise when I found out who it was. They couldn't really help with recovery so I helped myself :p

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Do you think that this sort of thing should be encouraged in the future?

I don't think this will spawn a new generation of vigilante crime fighters. This is more akin to happening upon an old security tape which reveals the identity of a dumb criminal who robbed your home. Yeah, I'd probably want to gather some data and turn him into the police.

Shaming someone caught in the act is hardly vigilante justice. About a year ago, a local tavern was robbed of their cash register by a thief who neglected to hide from the security cameras and who dropped his mixtape on the way out the smashed door. The owner recorded the tape (a collection of Lionel Ritchie soft hits) and merged it with the security camera shots of the thief in action, then posted it to youtube. The crime was of course reported to the police first, but their response was one of filing the report so that insurance could take care of things - not one of finding and punishing the thief.

the theft? or making the guy who stole your laptop look like a fool?

Why the heck can't the police help with the recovery, and also prosecution of grand theft?

I wouldn't want them to. Police have more important things to deal with than stolen laptops.

I agree with what you're doing, but I do think you're entirely wrong on this point. That's exactly one of the reasons why the police exists.

Or at least in a perfect world with unlimited budgets, that's how it would work.

Crime (including theft of expensive equipment) should be prosecuted. It does more harm to society and the perpetrator if you let it go. If people start to think their are no consequences for stealing laptops, there will be more stolen, then more serious crime can follow.

One thing this guy has going for him is that he did return the laptop to you. I think he deserves a little credit for that.

In the sense that 'the police don't have the resources to track down small items lifted in public places by unknown persons, and there are victims of greater crimes to tend to' you are perhaps right, but I think that all changes when you actually supply the name and address of the offender and incontrovertible proof that he's guilty.

Although if you did give them that information and they still couldn't pursue it, there's not much else you can do (except, of course, bang your head against the wall in frustration).

Just curious - why couldn't the police help recover your stolen property?

They had no idea what to do to recover it. They literally said "thanks for the report, but there's not much we can do."

They couldn't just go knock on the guy's door and ask for it? Was your evidence not admissible for a search warrant?

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