Law enforcement had more in one place than I ever saw.
Going to police auctions probably the thing they have the most of is recovered bikes that had never been returned to their owners.
And the buyers were regulars, many pawnbrokers who you could tell normally purchase continuously directly from thieves, picking them up super cheap in quantity whenever the cops do have them on offer.
And the cops completely aware the whole time.
At a different time, I was a theft victim from a music rehearsal space, where a guy left town with some of our nice gear when I was on vacation. Leaving behind some of his ratty things, but people figured out who he was right away, then found some pawn tickets and a couple were my items.
I went to that pawnshop and they had not loaned him much so I just bought them back. But there were two big speakers and one amp that I had no ticket for and a couple other guys were victims too. We made police reports with our serial numbers and the cops said they have a good relationship with the pawnbrokers and a very effective system to see if any recent loans were documented to these exact items. Everything was by the book.
One guy did get a speaker back that the cops found in a different pawnshop, but I kept checking for months and my stuff never turned up.
Until a couple years later when I got a call from a detective who wanted evidence on that same perpetrator in a more serious crime. Turned out the cops had my recovered amplifier for quite some time, and it was about to be auctioned off and surely he knew it would go cheap. But he wanted to know the original purchase prices so he could file enhanced charges needed to apprehend the thief immediately. I gave him the information and he faxed me the paperwork I needed to pick up my amp from their property department before the deadline. I was well aware that if this new violation had not come up, I would never have seen my amp again.
Never did find the speakers until a couple more years later I was watching a new band play at a local joint and sure enough, they had these uncommon series speakers right up front, and I discreetly checked them out and it was surely the ones my brother bought when he was a teenager and I had been deeply familiar with for years, with distinctive wear & tear. That I had faxed the original receipt to the cops that time.
But I decided not to say anything because it was a good band, and they were making better use of them than we would be doing by then. Plus they had replaced the horns with some more professional grade, these stout old boxes were sounding better than ever.
Law enforcement had more in one place than I ever saw.
Going to police auctions probably the thing they have the most of is recovered bikes that had never been returned to their owners.
And the buyers were regulars, many pawnbrokers who you could tell normally purchase continuously directly from thieves, picking them up super cheap in quantity whenever the cops do have them on offer.
And the cops completely aware the whole time.
At a different time, I was a theft victim from a music rehearsal space, where a guy left town with some of our nice gear when I was on vacation. Leaving behind some of his ratty things, but people figured out who he was right away, then found some pawn tickets and a couple were my items.
I went to that pawnshop and they had not loaned him much so I just bought them back. But there were two big speakers and one amp that I had no ticket for and a couple other guys were victims too. We made police reports with our serial numbers and the cops said they have a good relationship with the pawnbrokers and a very effective system to see if any recent loans were documented to these exact items. Everything was by the book.
One guy did get a speaker back that the cops found in a different pawnshop, but I kept checking for months and my stuff never turned up.
Until a couple years later when I got a call from a detective who wanted evidence on that same perpetrator in a more serious crime. Turned out the cops had my recovered amplifier for quite some time, and it was about to be auctioned off and surely he knew it would go cheap. But he wanted to know the original purchase prices so he could file enhanced charges needed to apprehend the thief immediately. I gave him the information and he faxed me the paperwork I needed to pick up my amp from their property department before the deadline. I was well aware that if this new violation had not come up, I would never have seen my amp again.
Never did find the speakers until a couple more years later I was watching a new band play at a local joint and sure enough, they had these uncommon series speakers right up front, and I discreetly checked them out and it was surely the ones my brother bought when he was a teenager and I had been deeply familiar with for years, with distinctive wear & tear. That I had faxed the original receipt to the cops that time.
But I decided not to say anything because it was a good band, and they were making better use of them than we would be doing by then. Plus they had replaced the horns with some more professional grade, these stout old boxes were sounding better than ever.