Another felony

I remarked to a colleague on the Rust who was burgled at 5pm in the afternoon when he was in his home that we need a crime reporter.

Last Sunday morning my wallet fell to the floor in a mini-market where I was buying a Sunday paper and was promptly stolen.  Audacity and amorality are the key features of such crime

The crime was caught on CCTV as was the culprit’s passage to his car parked at one of the pumps. If the police acted quickly he might be apprehended. It took 12 minutes for the local police to answer my call during which time I was repeatedly advised I would be better off using their website.

When I spoke to a human, I stressed that there was strong evidence and if a patrol car was sent to the mini-market they could have the footage. All that has happened since then, 48 hours later, is one call leaving a message asking if I was all right.

I pride myself that in a crisis I keep my head. On returning to the flat after the crime I made a list of priorities: cancel all cards first, report the crime second, and in due course replace credit details via the online services I use regularly.

I called someone who advises me on insurance claims and logged all my lost membership cards. Within an hour, I had done everything.

I wondered what would happen if the victim himself was a criminal.

I bet he would get the details of the car and within 24 hours “visit” the felon. I’m not advocating renegade justice but I have little confidence that the Police will catch the criminal. No doubt we will have the cuts as an excuse. On completing the details over the phone I was asked my ethnicity but not whether there were any witnesses.

In fact a person I recognised from our block was also in the shop and know him to be observant so he might have been able to describe a suspicious character by the coffee machine. Most criminals would be put off by CCTV but perhaps they are not, knowing that there is little likelihood of capture.