aeroman380

Minor or not it is still a crime. We simply can't dismiss it and we cannot demand what police should and should not just investigate because we are on a mighty horse that belongs to the "taxpayer". It is not logical to have used the "I am a tax payer, I don't want that or this investigation happening because...well...i am the taxpayer i pay your salary!". Then we should go into the schools and say "don't teach that or don't pick her because I am the taxpayer"

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SKYEG

​​​​​​​AE agent that passed on my mom's stolen 400K miles said it will go to the police and higher authorities. Not sure if that will be true or not but she took it super seriously

jaysona

I already practice this. No need to even let the local police know anything, I never report anything to the police that is of minor consequence, I hate wasting time and money. I also one that happens to practice what I preach. ^

I reported a minor theft once about 20 years ago, and when I saw just how futile and expensive the whole exercise was I decided then and then that there is no point in contacting the police for anything other than a major crime.

Oops, I added one too many zeroes as I was typing away on the commode.

I know the prices because I know what I used to bill various PDs and I know what my friends are billing today. BTW, please thank the VPD on my behalf for the generous bar tab my friend covers from time to time thanks to what he bills the VPD for just such silly work.

I think you may be underestimating just how much leg and keyboard work is involved in tracking down something as minor as someones points being stolen.

jaysona

If it's really that important to you to find out how your points were stolen, then why don't you foot the up to $575/hr bill for the investigation activities?

You example of education is not applicable here. General education in the public schools is for the greater benefit of society. Finding out how your AP account was compromised benefits no one other than yourself.

canadiancow

Acts are only illegal if they're investigated and prosecuted.

You're advocating for legalization of theft of 4-5 figures worth of miles.

That astounds me.

vernonc

+1

mapleg

No.

Littering is illegal in city parks and most highways. Whether they investigate and prosecute does not change that

mapleg

If someone steals a 5 cent item, do you recommend filing a complaint and having the police investigate it? If someone took a four dollar garden ornament from my yard, I would not be calling the police.

canadiancow

We're not taking about 5 cents.

Someone upthread said 400k miles.

Aeroplan sells these for 3 cents each.

That's $12k.

mapleg

I was replying to this. I never took a postion on whether 12k worth of points was "police worthy", I was simply pointing out the incongruity in suggesting that any crime, minor or not, should be investigated fully. The police do not have unlimited budgets and resources.

balexis

jaysona: if everyone followed your mindset, that would be the perfect recipe for criminals: perform n times a crime under m$ and no one will come after you.

This is why properly reporting theft/fraud (online or in the real world), even if not in the 5+ figures, is important and useful for cluster these reports and prioritize the cases where a proper investigation is relevant (ie organized group) vs isolated low-impact incident.

Report and let LE decide what to investigate, you are in no position to assume you were victim of a large-scale group or not.

hastuk

Once had my Visa card stolen out of my mailbox. Item bought, taken to a pawn shop, RCMP called as the trade seemed suspicious. RCMP called Visa, Visa called me. Visa agent told me about the usage of the card in real time as the RCMP kept her informed. Guy was caught using a taxi. I went to court over it some time later. Excellent fraud detection etc. None of it instigated by me but rather by Visa and the RCMP. These things are taken seriously.
I would expect to be notified if my Aeroplan account was compromised.

eigenvector

I would not look at it as $10k spent to recover someone's Aeroplan miles. After all, the miles are already recovered. It is $10k spent to track down a criminal who is quite likely committing other similar crimes and prevent/deter that person from committing other more serious crimes in the future.

The police do not have the resources to thoroughly investigate every minor crime that is reported to them - they make the decision to prioritize after it is reported based on resources as well as the probability of actually making a successful case against someone. If you try to report a $0.05 crime it will not be investigated. If police have actually investigated your complaint and apprehended someone, that should be viewed as an indication that the matter was serious enough to warrant their attention.

mapleg

Co-worker had house broken into, number of items stolen. Police asked any suspicions etc.
They said yes, someone their teen son knew who drove a very specific car, and one that the neighbours had reported seeing in the area that day. They gave police the name and address of the suspect.

Net result? Nada. Police did not visit suspect, made no effort to solve the case and told him to contact his insurance company.

That's how the police handle some cases they deem as time wasters. (Not saying it was, but to them it was). Even Sherlock Holmes had to limit the cases he was involved with.

Nazdoom

Police resources : demand ratios are not consistent across Canada, let alone across the world. Just because Toronto police have a streak of homicides to turn their attention to does not mean police in Flim Flam, Manitoba, don't have ample resources to investigate property crime (or vice versa). I've lived in cities/provinces where police will actively patrol to give out jaywalking tickets or stake out teens skateboarding on roads. I've also lived in cities where police wouldn't actively investigate theft under 100k.

Right now, there are a dozen intersections in downtown Montreal of 2-5 police directing traffic due to the inane amount of construction going on. Does it really take 5 police to control traffic on a one-lane street? No, 1 is sitting in the car, two are chatting, one is supervising, and one is actively working. Beyond just prioritizing based on necessity, factors like waste and management are crucial too.

Going back to topic, I do hope the RCMP investigate this. One victim, two victims, eventually many, many victims. This is why we have federal initiatives like the anti fraud centre.