Arrest, Search, Seizure, Warrant Police Proceedure - Arrest not made

Status
Not open for further replies.
L

Legend1673

New Member
First let me state that this matter is being handled by the local sheriff's office - NOT city police.

I am the victim of a home burglary where the suspect stole not only valuables but also passport, credit cards, and other things needed for identity theft. I immediately put a trace on the credit cards and was able to obtain a video surveilance tape of the suspect attempting to use the credit cards at a local market. The sherrif's office was able to obtain a positive identification of the suspect via probation officer and another officer, but informed me that the address on file (for the suspect) was no longer valid. Through internet/public record searching, I was able to obtain a current address for the suspect; which was turned over to the sheriff.

The sherrif's office stated:
1. They would arrest the subject at his next probation meeting.
2. A warrant would be issued for probation violation, identity theft, fraud, and burglary.
3. Would provide me with digital enhanced photos of the suspect to see if I knew him.

NONE OF THE OCCURRED

Following 3 weeks from identification of suspect, I was told that the officer who initially took the report was on vacation and the detective would not follow-up on the case until he returned (two weeks).

Over the last 4 weeks, I have placed 9 telephone calls into the sherrif's office.
3 - Detective in charge of case
2 - Detective's supervisor (Sgt.)
2 - Initial responding officer
1 - General information
1 - Division chief

All of these calls resulted in voicemail, and none have been returned. I have also sent emails to the detective and responding officer which were ignored.

When I attempt to contact the sheriff or undersheriff, I am informed that it must be taken up with the Division Chief for the precinct.

Any suggestions? How can I force the sheriff's office to take action? Who is the appropriate party to file a formal complaint?

I just need some guidance on the "smart" way to proceed where I get an arrest?

Any input is appreciated.
 
You cannot FORCE the sheriff's office to do anything. You can cajole, you can encourage, you can even beg, but you cannot force them.

Perhaps if you go to visit the sheriff's office and ask for the division commander that might help. phone calls are easy to dodge, personal visits less so.

But, if the investigating officers are not available, then they very well might have to wait. If no warrant has been issued for the arrest of the suspect,then they cannot arrest him. If he is on active probation as you seem to indicate the Probation Department might be able to revoke his probation. Have you spoken to probation?

This is likely just one of numerous cases that the detective and the deputy are working. While it may be the most important thing in the world to you, it is just one of a number of such cases to them. Perhaps one of more of the officers are being lazy, or, perhaps the system just works interminably slow. And if the DA wants to wait for something - perhaps more evidence or, perhaps, some digital enhancement of the videos, then they may want to wait for an arrest. If they were to make an arrest, then there is a clock that starts ticking for the prosecution. if the state is not ready, then this can be very bad.

I would start with a personal visit asking the detective or his supervisor what the status of the case is, and then if that does not work, ask to speak with the division commander. With luck someone will be able to tell you what the holdup is. Or, maybe there is a problem that has come up with regards to the identification or the crime itself.

- Carl
 
The smartest thing you can do is learn some patience in this matter. First, this guy is on probation (he isn't going anywhere). As long as he doesn't know that anything is going on, he and his buddies aren't alerted to the investigation. How about letting the police do their job and you just help.

He may be under surveillance, they may be quietly looking into his known associates, they just may be building a case against more than one person and they don't want to spook them by acting out of turn.

Patience. If they have enough to arrest him, they eventually will. It's to their benefit to do so. Listen to CDWJava too, he is one of those Police supers that you are pestering. Good luck. I know it's a big deal to you, but be patient.
 
Update

Thanks for the advice. I probably should have made myself clear in the initial post. The burglary took place and the suspect was identified over 4 months ago. Since that time there has been no progress on the case. The suspect was identified within 48 hours of the burglary which made me hopeful that a Probable Cause arrest might lead to the recovery of some of the stolen merchadise (at this point, I'm sure it's all been sold off).

I have a hard time believing that a case with evidence like video footage and police identification should take 4 additional months to investigate without at least questioning the suspect.

Thoughts?
 
Last edited:
Go to the sheriff dept records department and get yourself a copy of the reports. You will find out exactly what has been done to date. If you think something has been missed or handled inappropriately, make a personal visit to the sheriff himself or one of his high ranking cronies and let them have it.
 
Well ... if the case is still open, dollars to donuts the sheriff's department is not going to provide him with a copy of any reports.

While *I* cannot provide any reason to explain the delay, I suppose that the agency can. What often seems so simple from the outside is not always so simple when you get in to it. I'm working on a couple of those very frustrating cases even now ... the public, and the victim, sees it as simple but upon review, the DA and our agency have seen some potential holes in the case that we would like to plug before we make an arrest. Once we make that arrest, the clock starts ticking and if we cannot answer those nagging questions, we lose the case.
 
The victim should have access to the reports. I don't think it will be an issue in this case.
It may just depend on the agency. Mine is pretty big on victim's rights and doesn't restrict access except for high profile stuff.
 
Wow! That's pretty bold, allowing OPEN investigations to be handed out even to the victim! Certainly, it is not unlawful, but the damage it could do to an investigation is ... well, the possibilities are numerous!

I personally know of no agencies that would provide even a victim with a copy of the open investigation. MAYBE the initial report or a synopsis, but certainly not any supplemental reports or details. If the case is still open, I'm going to guess that they are not going to provide him a copy.

An agency in San Diego County once had part of one of their open cases end up being excerpted in the Union-Tribune ... oops! It threw the case under the bus, and the angry victim who felt nothing was moving ended up making their case impossible to prove. In my agency, we had a theft of computers from a county agency and we knew who did it, we were working on retrieving the computers from assorted third parties and almost had a enough to file on, and we made the mistake in confiding in the administrator of Health Services what was going on. Well, he wanted to see action and decided to tell the press what we were doing - or, in his opinion, what we were NOT doing. As a result, our suspect (who had been convinced she was a witness) lawyered up, we found a bunch of burned computers in an irrigation canal, and the case was effectively flushed into the toilet.

It is just not a good idea to give details to victims - particularly to unhappy victims. Even well-meaning victims and witnesses can give up details to friends and others that will give away details you do not want to give up.

In any event, it doesn't hurt for him to ASK for a copy of the report. The worst thing that can happen is they "No."
 
Last edited:
I agree. I could ask for a copy but I wouldn't give it to me if I were the police.

I can see there being a huge liability issue with giving open case police reports to victims. What if this were a more serious case and the victim were vendictive and used information in the case file to help confront the suspect resulting in an assault -or worse...then it turn out the suspect was not the perp? Talk about law suit.
 
Your position and acknowledgment shows a very open and reasonable mind, Legend. Working through the emotion to see the practical logic of something is not easy for someone who is emotionally invested in something. I admire that.

I do understand why you are upset at the lack of speed. And I honestly cannot explain it except to say that there may well be valid reasons for the delay. It is their bad that they have not had SOMEONE sit down and explain to you - in general terms- what is happening and why there is a delay. At least to say that they are gathering more evidence, or, there may be additional crimes that they are looking at. This is a supervision and management problem on their part, and I only wish I could help you with that. As it is, all I can suggest is that you continue to try and work with the agency and try to speak to people up the food chain - and, in person.

Good luck.

- Carl
 
OK... my bad...
According to one of our detectives they don't actually provide a paper copy of the report if the case is active. They will discuss any concerns with the victim though. A lot of cases are inactivated right at the get-go, and those are available through records. If this incident has been ongoing for over four months, I would not be too surprised if it has been inactivated for one reason or another, in which case the report might be available. It won't hurt to check.
The same theory applies though- obtain what info you can and then go make some noise with the boss if you think they dropped the ball.
 
Last edited:
mightymoose said:
OK... my bad...
According to one of our detectives they don't actually provide a paper copy of the report if the case is active. They will discuss any concerns with the victim though. A lot of cases are inactivated right at the get-go, and those are available through records. If this incident has been ongoing for over four months, I would not be too surprised if it has been inactivated for one reason or another, in which case the report might be available. It won't hurt to check.
The same theory applies though- obtain what info you can and then go make some noise with the boss if you think they dropped the ball.
Click to expand...
Okay, THAT makes much more sense than your original posting ... as an Admin guy, I had alarm whistles and bells going off all over the place with regards to manpower and time issues in coordination for redaction, liability, defacto declarations of the report as a public record, etc. Plus, if they provide it to the victim they will often have to provide it to the suspect as well. After all, a public record is a public record.

In the long run, in CA and most other states, there is no law that prevents an agency from turning over a copy of a report to any party. I do not know of an agency that will provide a copy of an OPEN investigation, and many will not even provide copies of closed cases (though, arguably, in CA they may have to do so pursuant to GC 6254(f)).

Moose, I appreciate your double checking. I was going into apoplexy wondering if (a) you had been misinformed (and many officers who are not involved in records don't know that much about how they work), or, (b) your agency had a ticking timebomb issue in its midst! Though, there are some chiefs I have heard of over the years that have enacted some pretty bizarre rules, and I would not be too surprised if one made such an open reporting rule at some point in time.
 
I believe that if the agency denies your request for a copy of the police report your only recourse is to obtain a court order compelling them to release it. In that case, you would have to have a pretty convincing story indicating your need to obtain it. I would think that a four month old investigation with a known suspect, and in which the investigators are not communicating with the victim, would be enough to raise eyebrows and get things rolling again.
 
Legend, you mentioned the thief stole your credit cards and things like that involving identity theft. He also committed fraud when trying to use your credit card. Fraud and identity theft are VERY high profile crimes. Imagine if the police arrested him, but were not properly prepared to convict him. Not only would you be angry, but all other identity theft victims would feel a little bit of outrage.

My guess is this thief has committed more fraud and identity theft before and after your incident. The police are probably investigating several fraud issues with this guy and his conspirators - and you know the police aren't the sharpest tools in the shed. This could go on for years. Be patient, but don't ever ease off. Every couple of weeks make your rounds. See what info you can get, speak to the detective of the case and speak to the actual probation officer of this fellow or at least the probation supervisor. Keep everyone on track politely, and keep this all on the quiet tip. Speaking to anyone about your case besides your closest confidants could be counterproductive. Good luck, be patient.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Share this page

Get a free case review from a lawyer
Back
Top