 
Ramcharger
Member
Username: Ramcharger
Post Number: 178
Registered: 05-2006
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 10:46 am: |    |
When did car theft in Detroit become such a low priority? There has been a stolen car with its ignition broken out and all the windows open sitting in front of a vacant house next door to mine for two weeks. I’ve reported it twice. The police don’t accept any calls any more; they just tell you to call 311. The operators taking the reports have told me that it definitely has been reported as stolen, but beyond that all I get is a surly attitude.
Does anyone know of a web site where I can post the make, model and license number of this vehicle so that perhaps the owner might find and retrieve it before it’s completely destroyed?
(Message edited by Ramcharger on December 22, 2006) |
Taj920
Member
Username: Taj920
Post Number: 160
Registered: 01-2004
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 11:05 am: | |
Often these cars are stolen in the suburbs and dumped and stripped in the City. This is probably why it's not much of a priority. |
Andylinn
Member
Username: Andylinn
Post Number: 274
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 11:09 am: | |
yeah, because now everybody in the city with a car has a club and a kill switch... |
Jt1
Member
Username: Jt1
Post Number: 8115
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 11:17 am: | |
2 points:
Theft is a small component of the insurance rates in Detroit. What really drives it up is the outrageous coverage for broadened coverage. Make that component more in line and they will still be higher but on a more reasonable and acceptable level.
Regardless where the car was stolen this is a very easy QOL issue to address. This would take very little of DPDs time and these issues need to be addressed. Sounds like there is a major disconnect between 311 and DPD and who needs to do what.
I don't care if the car was stolen in Mexico and dumped here. The residents of the block and neighborhood should be able to have it taken care of as soon as they call DPD or 311. The claim from the city of 'bigger problems' with easy to address QOL issues is an embarrasment and a major clusterfuck of how the city is run. |
Chub
Member
Username: Chub
Post Number: 446
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 11:21 am: | |
The city's police dept. obviously needs a complete overhaul, and has for many years. I think the idea of a web site where people could post info on found stolen cars is a great idea. I've found countless stolen cars and reported them to police only to watch them sit for days or even weeks before they get picked up. In the time they sit there, they get even more damaged by locals pulling parts off them. |
Ramcharger
Member
Username: Ramcharger
Post Number: 179
Registered: 05-2006
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 11:22 am: | |
quote:"because now everybody in the city with a car has a club "
I keep an extra club around for use by friends when they visit me. |
Chub
Member
Username: Chub
Post Number: 447
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 11:45 am: | |
I have an extra club around for friends as well. It's not that they ask for it, it's that they actually need it and I insist they put on. Not that a club is going to really stop a motivated person from stealing it. We should not have to live like this. |
Thnk2mch
Member
Username: Thnk2mch
Post Number: 557
Registered: 02-2006
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 12:02 pm: | |
Always carry protection. |
Jt1
Member
Username: Jt1
Post Number: 8116
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 12:05 pm: | |
What do condoms have to do with auto theft and an inefficience DPD/311? |
Urbanoutdoors
Member
Username: Urbanoutdoors
Post Number: 111
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 12:16 pm: | |
I thought it rare occurence, but I witnessed 4 young kids who had stolen a car stall out in front of my dads house in the university district. they sat there start and tried to start it for a few minutes when it wouldn't start they just calmly got out (leaving it in the middle of the road) and walked away. I called the cops once I noticed the locks were popped off. Low and behold they came out in 10 minutes Needless to say I was amazed. I did call strait to the precinct though. I think that does help with getting a response. |
Mind_field
Member
Username: Mind_field
Post Number: 669
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 12:19 pm: | |
Jt1, welcome back...couldn't stay away could you?  |
Ramcharger
Member
Username: Ramcharger
Post Number: 182
Registered: 05-2006
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 12:30 pm: | |
quote:"I did call strait to the precinct though. I think that does help with getting a response."
I've tried that; they won't talk to me. Now, if it was blocking traffic or a driveway it would have been taken care of within hours, but since it's not, it's treated like an abandon vehicle, which is a very low priority. |
Chub
Member
Username: Chub
Post Number: 448
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 12:31 pm: | |
Urbanoutdoors, I do think your suggestion of calling the precinct directly is a good idea. The problem is that sometimes you see crimes happening, but you're outside of your own precinct. Trying to remember all the direct precinct numbers is unrealistic. This is why 911 and 311 exist, is it not? |
Urbanoutdoors
Member
Username: Urbanoutdoors
Post Number: 112
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 12:33 pm: | |
push it into the street then call and report it..... Take the matter into your own hands! |
Leland_palmer
Member
Username: Leland_palmer
Post Number: 203
Registered: 08-2004
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 1:20 pm: | |
call steve wilson, maybe he can tie it into his redlining report. |
Udmphikapbob
Member
Username: Udmphikapbob
Post Number: 250
Registered: 07-2004
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 1:21 pm: | |
find someone with a tow truck and drop it off in front of the police station |
Iheartthed
Member
Username: Iheartthed
Post Number: 245
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 1:34 pm: | |
Steve Wilson is doing a redlining report? On city rates? Wow.
I think the car in the University District got a fast response because you were calling from the University District... |
Urbanoutdoors
Member
Username: Urbanoutdoors
Post Number: 113
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 2:18 pm: | |
Yeah I know that probably had some thing to do with it. |
Detroitplanner
Member
Username: Detroitplanner
Post Number: 599
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 2:46 pm: | |
I know whenever I call the old sith preicent (whatever it is called now) to report hookers or dumpers, I'm always told to call 911!!! Those are not emergency calls! |
Chub
Member
Username: Chub
Post Number: 449
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 2:56 pm: | |
The problem in Detroit is NOBODY wants to help you. Not the police, not 911 or 311. The whole system is pathetic and needs to be restructured. Note: This opinion is based from my own experiences.
And on this note, I wish all of you a safe and happy Holiday! I'm off to Cali. to sip tiki drinks by the pool while wearing nothing but a Santa hat. Haa hah... See ya... |
Reetz12
Member
Username: Reetz12
Post Number: 111
Registered: 09-2005
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 3:33 pm: | |
Is there an alternate number to 311...can't call 311 from cell phone? |
Wash_man
Member
Username: Wash_man
Post Number: 242
Registered: 05-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, December 23, 2006 - 1:16 am: | |
There are other consequences to not responding quickly. A couple of years ago a man from Macomb County killed himself and then nobody could find his wife. The police were searching all over for her, even out of state. They didn't know if she took off or if he killed her before his suicide. They found her car 2-3 months later abandoned in Brush Park. From evidence they gathered from the car, they determined she was dead. A lot of police work looking for a woman that was already dead. If someone had investigated the car, it could have all been avoided. |