Harassment, Stalking, Misconduct Statute of Limitations?

[thejokester43]

Just wondering, but how long do police have to gather evidence and investigate a crime (burglary) before they have to either charge the person being investigated, or abandon the investigation?

I sincerely doubt that they'll be knocking at my door, saying "oh, sorry, it was someone else. You can go back to living your life as normal now." And since I'm not holding my breath for this (though an apology after all of this would be nice), I'd like to know just how long we have to just wait and see.

Is it better to simply wait, or is a lawyer needed to "stop a fishing expedition" so we can move on? We are tired of being harassed, when nothing has come of any of this, other than costing us money that we don't have (missing work, tickets, etc).

Thanks so much to anyone who can enlighten us.

 

[mafioso]

There is no time limit if you have not been charged. They could just keep the file cold forever or until when they decide to create space in their filling cabinets…it could take forever….Some police departments have a time limit to declare an investigation dead. It varies from one police department to another. They will not tell you……….They will keep whatever until they maybe find a related crime in the future and can connect the dots.

 

[CdwJava]

Just wondering, but how long do police have to gather evidence and investigate a crime (burglary) before they have to either charge the person being investigated, or abandon the investigation?

I sincerely doubt that they'll be knocking at my door, saying "oh, sorry, it was someone else. You can go back to living your life as normal now." And since I'm not holding my breath for this (though an apology after all of this would be nice), I'd like to know just how long we have to just wait and see.

Is it better to simply wait, or is a lawyer needed to "stop a fishing expedition" so we can move on? We are tired of being harassed, when nothing has come of any of this, other than costing us money that we don't have (missing work, tickets, etc).

Thanks so much to anyone who can enlighten us.

State laws vary as to the statutes of limitations.

In my state of California, the state would generally have three years to bring a burglary case to court. Until then, the police can fish all they want so long as it is not "harassment" (i.e. for no other purpose than to annoy the person being "harassed").

- Carl