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Police 'Steal' From Unlocked Cars

Posted by samzenpus on from the necessary-to-destroy-the-town-in-order-to-save-it dept.

Robadob writes "Police in south-west London have started to remove items from unlocked cars to protect motorists from thieves. From the article, 'Supt Jim Davis said no law was being breached but admitted: "Technically we are entering the vehicle." But a leading lawyer said police could face civil proceedings for trespass if any items taken by them were damaged.'"

4 of 38 comments (clear)

  1. Why not lock the car? by mrdogi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Subject really says it all.

    A minor addition would be 'hide the valuable item under the seat' or some such.

    1. Re:Why not lock the car? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Because replacing a smashed window is expensive.

  2. Re:No freedom anymore... by PrimaryConsult · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The problem with the freedom to be stupid is that it usually leads to someone else having to clean up after your mistake. The police have to work a lot harder to track down someone who actually stole your laptop than to just hand it back to you. Not to say that they're right in this regard, but at the very least they're saving taxpayer money by reducing the amount of work they have to do.

  3. Re:No freedom anymore... by RobVB · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The police have to work a lot harder to track down someone who actually stole your laptop

    ... but they usually don't.

    --
    I'd rather you rationally disagree than irrationally agree.