imported post
Three things...
The way things "
Should" be, the way would "
Like" them to be, and the way things "
Are".
malichite wrote:
as an employee of a financial institution I can unequivocally state that LEO does not do ANY fraud investigation whatsoever. ANY AND ALL involvement by LEO is purely for record keeping and to prove to insurance companies (the bank's not your's) that you truly (by signing a sworn statement) experienced a loss.... sue the pants off them.
As an employee of a law enforcement agency I can unequivocally state that you are
WRONG. They may not investigate all fraud/ID theft case, but many
are depending on what information and leads are available.
While functionally, the greatest use of the reports we take are the bank and insurance documentation, that is NOT what the
reason the are taken. We really could care less about providing documentation for their files. In fact, some agencies will decline to take reports in many fraud cases because the bank's customer is NOT the victim, the bank or an involved merchant is.
King County SO does take these cases, as a courtesy for our citizens since most banks don't want to be bothered to file a report of what the bank is actually a victim of. They have already lost the money and they see paying an employee's hourly wage to report it as an additional "loss". They would much rather sub-contract that work out to the customer who are usually happy to do it on an unpaid volunteer basis.
By law, banks can't refuse to refund the money if a customer doesn't make a report. They can only refuse to pay if they show the customer didn't adequately protect thier info (such as giving out PIN or writing it on the back of the ATM card) or they come up with something that suggests the customer was involved in perpetrating the fraud.
We take the reports to document the crime, capture the statistics, investigate when possible, and connect similar crimes to suspects. Occasionally someone will get stopped and have some incriminating evidence on them, that evidence is then able to create a paper trail connecting them to other crimes. That wouldn't be the case with out the reports. In fact the reports we take are frequently for something OTHER than the fraud. For instance, if your account statement is stolen from the mail and there is subsequent fraud, we will generally take a "Mail Theft" report and simply note in it that there was associated fraud.
As to trying to file a complaint or press charges under 9.41.270 against the Officer's for drawing on you while giving verbal commands, here is why that isn't going to work...
RCW 9.41.270...
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to carry, exhibit, display, or draw any firearm, dagger, sword, knife or other cutting or stabbing instrument, club, or any other weapon apparently capable of producing bodily harm, in a manner, under circumstances, and at a time and place that either manifests an intent to intimidate another or that warrants alarm for the safety of other persons.
(2) Any person violating the provisions of subsection (1) above shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor. If any person is convicted of a violation of subsection (1) of this section, the person shall lose his or her concealed pistol license, if any. The court shall send notice of the revocation to the department of licensing, and the city, town, or county which issued the license.
(3) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to or affect the following:
(a) Any act committed by a person while in his or her place of abode or fixed place of business;
(b) Any person who by virtue of his or her office or public employment is vested by law with a duty to preserve public safety, maintain public order, or to make arrests for offenses, while in the performance of such duty;
Right or wrong, they were acting in their capacity as police officers' and so long as they were in accordance with their policies, procedures, training, etc. They are not going to face any criminal charges, even if it is later determined that such training, policies, etc. were wrong or improper. For pretty much ANY crime, there has to be
intent, their intent was to do their duty (even if misguided).
Heck, 3(a) might even apply as being in their "Fixed place of business". While it may be a great fantasy to try and press charges. It is just that, a fantasy. Ain't gonna happen in the real world, no one is going to take a criminal complaint on it and no prosecutor is going to pursue charges.
Your recourse is to sue for damages civilly if you wish, or try and educate the agency involved (or both).
Believe it or not, most agencies and most cops aren't driven to crush the rights of citizens. They respond how they have been trained, or in absence of specific training they make split second decisions. They don't have the luxury of time and debate in many situations. Sometimes they are wrong, but the primary concern is to gain control of the situation, defuse it and try to keep everybody involved safe. The rest can be sorted out later, and my experience is when they do screw up they take responsibility for it and make changes to keep it from happening again.
I've found that in most, if not all, facets of life more things are gained through cooperative action than through adversarial means.
