To Serve and Protect?

Michael Downing

 

Early Friday morning we had an incidence at our manufacturing facility. Around 12:30AM the cameras picked up activity in our dumpster area. All the scrap steel left when we cut our product out of our sheet material gets loaded into a large dumpster probably around 32 feet long by 7 foot across and 6 foot deep. We have seen a large increase in theft of the scrap steel so we put in a security system with digital cameras in strategic locations inside and outside of the building.

When activity was picked up a signal was sent to our alarm company but by the time the police arrived the people had loaded their small truck and left. We checked the video recording that morning and sure enough two males backed a S10 pickup alongside the dumpster and loaded the truck. A call to surrounding area scrap yards with a description of the material and tuck located where they were taking it.

The police came in after I called them and I expected that once I gave them all the info they would they would arrest the perps but oh no. The officer told me that they could not charge them with anything. I said what the hell they are stealing my scrap material and I am potentially losing a couple grand or more a month. the officer said it was likely that they did not know they were stealing as dumpster diving happens all the time. My reply was that there was no way they could really believe that because someone who pulls up in the middle of the night with floppy ball caps pulled down to help disguise their faces knows they are stealing or they would just come in the middle of the day.

Reply was that they would never make theft charges stick but if I put up no trespassing signs and wrote a letter to the police and hand delivered it and then signed several forms they could charge anyone on the premises without permission with trespassing. I laughed and said nothing happens with trespassing charges as I know a business that was hit three times with vandalism and all the perp got each time was a slap on the wrist and the third time a suspended fine. the business owner was told to fill out a restraining order and then they could charge them with violating the restraining order.

I told the police officer that since I owned the building and if I happened to come upon the people removing material from the dumpster and felt threatened with bodily harm when I asked them to leave I would be within my rights to protect myself. I asked don't you think it would be better to charge these people with stealing than it would to someday be called because myself or some other business owner felt the need to protect themselves because they surprised these people in the process of removing something from the premises that did not belong.

So much for the money spent on an expensive alarm and camera system and so much for protect and serve. We already live in a PC world without the rule of law...