bitflipper
An acquaintance was burgled, and one of the stolen items was an iPad that had locator software installed on it (in case of theft). Using the software he was able to drive straight to the crooks' house. Think he got his iPad (or anything else) back? Nope. The iPad reporting its own location was not deemed sufficient evidence for the cops to take any action.
 
I guess it only works if you handle the recovery yourself:
 

 
Julien: yeh, I've thought of the same thing. It's also occurred to me that they're thinking "if he had all that cool stuff in the garage, what's he got in the house?". So I am assuming the risk is still high, at least until I get my new door installed and the camera fully functional. I'll have the new door in about two weeks. Fingers crossed in the meantime.
 
And you never know, they could even get busted. I can dream. 

My granddaughters iPod was stolen a couple years ago. They did a jailbreak on it but the locate still worked. She kept pinging it until she got a response then drove to where it was. Found the house, talked to a neighbor that she knew and found out that the people who lived in the "house" were not well thought of and thought to be criminal. SO... she asked her friend to watch the school bus and her friend saw a girl get off the bus and walk to the house with the iPod in her hand. My daughter called the police as she was driving over there. Of course they told her to wait but she told them that they better come. They did, she did. She/they went to the door and the girl denied everything however the mom came home about that time and the as the girl was denying having it and saying that she didn't know where it was her little brother said, "yes you do, you put it in the grill on the deck", LOL. Mom told her to go get it ad after a little back and forth she did go get it. My daughter got it all restored and didn't press charges but the police did use the evidence that the "locate" said that the phone was there, plus IIRC, they sort of knew these people.
I don't understand why the police wont do their job. I guess you may need to cause a disturbance of some sort without exposing yourself to charges so the police will get the message that if they don't do something, something worse may happen. I'd talk to your detective friend from the other town. I bet if he were to accompany you, out of uniform, the locals would have a different attitude.
I haven't read everything in the last couple pages yet but I will now. Rock the boat. Call the mayors office. Call the governors office. Call everyone you can think of to make 'stuff" roll downhill on the police who aren't doing their job. Make them want you to go away and know that will only happen if they do their job.
Things like this piss me off. I still think a visit from some local outlaw bikers would do wonders. Of course you need someone who isn't crazy but who just lets it be known that within two days some certain stuff needs to happen, without naming it or you but still letting them know. Sometimes only fear works on criminals. It looks like right now, they have nothing to fear so why should they do anything?
IDK, it's probably a stupid idea and easy for me to say...
The best to you.
 
J

bitflipper
Now the insurance company - USAA - tells me they can't change the name on my homeowner's policy until it renews in March 2017, even after I've taken my wife's name off the deed. Consequently, this and any future claim cannot be settled until next year because they can't make any payouts.
 
In the meantime, as my credit card issuer they're making 15% interest on the replacement gear I've charged to it. Oh, they're quite apologetic, but say rules are rules. Even if I dutifully continue to pay my premiums for the coming year, I am effectively uninsured until next March. I won't be replacing my DAW this year.
 
I'll continue to update this thread if anything happens, but there's not much point in hanging out in a forum about a pastime I no longer participate in, so I'm afraid this is gonna be one of those much-mocked "I'm outa here" threads. See ya.
 
 
 
 

Call your state insurance commissioners office and open a case. Insurance companies don't like that. I've had to do it and they responded pretty quickly and favorably... then again that was maybe 25 years ago, the world was much more sane.
Still.. can't hurt. It's what they are there for.
J
 
BTW. I have had a family member steal from me twice. The same one who got herself a card on my mom's Discover account and spent 10s of thousands of dollars on it. My dad didn't want to press charges so we never did. I wised up and kept the stuff she was stealing from me locked in the car. Good grief. It is a bad bad world. Full of bad people. From all I can tell, you are one of the "good guys". Stay that way, it seems to be a dying breed.

ampfixer
I'm working on a "black box" right now. Just like the airlines, mine is bright orange and contains my will, P.O.A., life insurance etc. I've told my family that if I go down, just get the black box and all the important stuff will be there for them.

Good plan.  People's black boxes should also contain some things you don't need an attorney to assemble.  It should contain a list of people to notify (for us here, hopefully another forum member who can announce the news on this forum).  It should also contain a list of things to cancel - everything from credit cards to newspaper subscriptions.  Review the list annually to make sure it is up to date.  If you have heirs you want to see get the maximum inheritance, keeping the post-demise costs to a minimum is important and this could definitely help.

Work has kept me busy - I'm out of town today on business - so I haven't had time to get to the courthouse yet.
 
Hopefully, I'll get there tomorrow and hopefully they'll not make it hard to change the name on the deed, and hopefully the insurance company will cooperate. Hopefully, the police will finally tell me something. Anything. Hopefully, I will not have to appeal to the state Insurance Commissioner or the media.
 
A lot's hinging on hope.

I had to file a complaint with the State Insurance Commissioner 6 months back when I was hit by an illegal alien, uninsured motorist, with no drivers license.  Once you file a complaint, they had to address it, by law and come to a conclusion within 30 days in Texas.  In my case, I was only asking for the person to be declared an "uninsured motorist" so as to get 3/4 of my $1,000 deductible back, from my own insurance company.  
 
If you don't get resolution, that's what I would do, Bit.

ampfixer
Good point David. I'm working on a "black box" right now. Just like the airlines, mine is bright orange and contains my will, P.O.A., life insurance etc. I've told my family that if I go down, just get the black box and all the important stuff will be there for them.
 
It's tough to face these things but time gives a pass to no one.

For many years we have kept any and all important documents in a box at one of our banks.
My wife is going there today to get a copy of our marriage license. She needs to mail a copy and they'll do that...they'd probably mail it too if she wanted.
I don't know of a safer place for deeds, titles, wills, certificates, etc. and our relatives know where to get them when needed. We're comfortable with the method.

spacey
 
 
For many years we have kept any and all important documents in a box at one of our banks.
My wife is going there today to get a copy of our marriage license. She needs to mail a copy and they'll do that...they'd probably mail it too if she wanted.
I don't know of a safer place for deeds, titles, wills, certificates, etc. and our relatives know where to get them when needed. We're comfortable with the method.

 
I do that too.  Passports, birth certificates, marriage certificate, insurance papers, , photocopies of ID that we carry with us, home ownership stuff, and a DVD showing photos and serial numbers of all my musical equipment.  Well worth the $40/year cost.

Cops and Robbers in a tale that only true life can invent, they say, truth is far stranger than any work of fiction and here's proof.
 
Justice too can run far deeper and ultimately fairer than the mechanism society has in place that it calls law, and I'm hoping soon Dave that you come through this situation with far more than you entered into it with in whatever form that turns out to be.
 
All the best to you and safe to say you'll be in my thoughts for some time after reading this thread.

Slugbaby
I do that too.  Passports, birth certificates, marriage certificate, insurance papers, , photocopies of ID that we carry with us, home ownership stuff, and a DVD showing photos and serial numbers of all my musical equipment.  Well worth the $40/year cost.

Yesterday, as I was getting out of the car in my customer's parking lot, something fell out of my laptop case. Fortunately, I heard it drop. To my horror, I looked down to see it was my passport, which I'd forgotten was in the laptop case.
 
Probably not the best place for long-term storage, eh?

Damn - I go away for a couple of years and come back when I heard the news about Hades having frozen over and Sonar going to be available on Macs and now I read this - not good at all. Hopefully Bit you get things straightened out with the insurance authorities and other legalities.
 
The one thing I got lucky with when my dad passed back in 2002 down in Florida (I was the estate executor) was I had a great attorney down there helping me out (was a long time friend of my dad's) and she kept me on my toes with all the little things I had to do. That was a blessing as I live up in NJ and only travel by train so frequent commutes down weren't in order.
 
Like Spacey my wife and I keep all our important documents in a safe deposit box at our bank's branch which is literally 5 blocks from my house.
 
Stay safe and sane my friend.