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Stolen iPad's Reported Location Not Enough To Warrant Search, Say Dutch Police
lbalbalba writes "A location message sent from a stolen iPad by an anti-theft application turns out to be insufficient evidence to issue a search warrant for the Dutch authorities. A Dutch man reported his iPad as stolen to the Dutch authorities last month. Despite the fact that the rightful owner was able to locate his iPad within hours of the theft, thanks to the anti-theft application he had installed, the Dutch authorities did not issue a warrant to perform a search. According to the prosecutors, a search warrant is 'a very heavy measure,' that should only be used when there is 'sufficient suspicion.' The theft report by the owner was viewed as 'no objective evidence' in the case."
Whatever you do,
whatever happens:
Don't call the police.
"Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
He tracked the phone to the trunk of a car, told the police, and they did nothing.
Consequently, if anything happens to the vehicle he tracked the phone to or the person who owns it, your friend will become suspect #1, all because he made the mistake of talking to the police.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Imagine how many thefts and assults there would be if people did not have guns?
We have cities that imposed weapons bans within city limits, it did not reduce crime at all. In fact some of those cities have HIGHER rates of crimes and higher rates of murder and crimes committed with guns. The thiefs know that there is a very strong chance the potential victim will not have a gun.
Good one. :-)
Of course the next thing that would happen is the police arrest the homeowner for filing a false report, or abusing 911 resources, or wasting police officers' time on a crime of low priority. Or maybe just "disturbing the peace" which is the standard catch-all to arrest someone who did nothing wrong (like Professor Gates).
interestingness - disturbing the peace is NOT an arrestable offence (in the UK) once the act is over with unless the disturbance is 1) on going, or 2) likely to reoccur.
The police officer that tried to arrest me for such didn't like it when I pointed this out to him, but he checked and found that I was correct.
But burglary is only one crime parameter. If you look at a broader range of crime statistics the picture is less clear cut. Rape is for example twice as prevalent in Holland as in the US. Overall victimization is also higher in Holland. But other crime statistics show less crime in Holland.
http://www.nationmaster.com/compare/Netherlands/United-States/Crime