small town police amnesty

What is the name of your state?

Georgia

Some people we know were in the process of robbing our house when my husband came home and interrupted them. The doors were locked and when asked how they got in and what they were doing there they told him that I had asked them to feed our animals while I was out of town, which was a total lie, and that they'd had to come in through a window.

They talked a good game, and we thought they were, "friends," of ours, and since my husband could not immediately contact me he did not call the police and did not think to look in their truck before they left.

When I called my husband and told him that they did not in fact have my permission to be in the house, he began to look around and notice several items were missing, and contacted our local police. The investigator came and saw the screen from the window torn off and we gave him a list of the items that were missing. (About $3000 of our property).

This investigator told us after a couple of weeks when we asked him about the case that he could not arrest them without finding the stolen items in their possession, which I understand, but my husband physically found them in our house and they did not have permission to be there as was their story. They had also damaged our property upon gaining unlawful entry so my first question is shouldn't he have at least arrested them for breaking and entering, upon which should he not have searched their residence and truck for the property that was subsequently missing?

It has been a year now and nothing was ever done AT ALL to help us, as victims of a burglary. We live in a very small town and the investigator conducts business based on his personal opinions rather than his professional obligations to the community, and this makes me very angry. I would like to sue the city for damages because they did not protect our civil liberties and neglected to investigate a crime commited against us. Is this possible?

heboo73 said:

It has been a year now and nothing was ever done AT ALL to help us, as victims of a burglary. We live in a very small town and the investigator conducts business based on his personal opinions rather than his professional obligations to the community, and this makes me very angry. I would like to sue the city for damages because they did not protect our civil liberties and neglected to investigate a crime commited against us. Is this possible?

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Well, as I see it, he is at least half right. Without catching them in possession of the stolen property, doing them for the burglary is nearly impossible. However, based upon the statements of your husband, in my opinion the officer shoul dhave at least spoken to the suspects and locked them in to a story and then obtained a search warrant for the items in question. It seems to me there would be sufficient cause for the search warrant.

Without the stolen property, and with their apparent admission to forcing their way into the house - coupled with a lie - it would seem a slam dunk for trespassing and MAYBE attempted burglary. And chances are, one of the guys would roll over on the others.

But! If these guys were friends of yours or your husbands, and they stick to a tale that you asked them to feed the critters, it's possible that there would be sufficient doubt to ever bring the case to trial.

As I see it you have a couple of options: (1) Hound the dpeartment and seek some answers or further inquiry ... but by now the case has likely gone cold. Or, (2) speak to your local DA and see whether he/she can look in to the matter and determine if there is sufficient cause to charge the suspects.

In any case, you cannot FORCE the police to investigate. And he is privy to many more facts that we here are not. Those facts may have a direct bearing on the credibility of the tale and on the viability of the case. Common sense does not necessarily equal prosecutable.

- Carl

you should retain an attorney to represent your interests on the criminal investigation. you also have the option of suing the people who broke into your house for the items they stole.

GAAtty

Before you totally give up on the police, there are some things you can do yourself. In the first place, you can get down to the courthouse and go to the Magistrate Judge's office and take out a criminal warrant against them for burglary, trespassing, and theft by taking. You don't have to sit around and wait for the police office to remember your case. Second, you can sue these people for the value of your belongings, but the problem may be proof. All of those would be much easier than suing the city, and much cheaper and faster, too.