Looks like the criminals have won, at least in some quarters anyway. 
 
I can't speak for Bitflipper, but I would guess that with everything he's been through the last thing he needs to hear is someone telling him that he's putting his family in harms way by moving them in. 
 
He got burgled for chrissakes, not home invaded and held hostage. You cannot live the rest of your life in fear because your house got broken into. 

My dad was an attorney, and we always had acquaintances in law enforcement. My understanding from being familiar with court cases and LE activities was that they understood that there would always be a certain level of crime. As long as it wasn't violent, it was low priority. If crime goes above a certain level (different for different areas) then LE would focus on that area until the numbers went back down. Kind of like how you'll see traffic enforcement focus on a certain road for a few days, then you don't see them for months.
 
Law enforcement is more about managing crime, unfortunately, not eliminating it.
 
Regards,
Dan

sharke

 
Looks like the criminals have won, at least in some quarters anyway. 
 
I can't speak for Bitflipper, but I would guess that with everything he's been through the last thing he needs to hear is someone telling him that he's putting his family in harms way by moving them in. 
 
He got burgled for chrissakes, not home invaded and held hostage. You cannot live the rest of your life in fear because your house got broken into. 

They do win, mostly.  Crime pays, unfortunately, in the business of theft.  No one sees property as work and time out of your life, so your property is merely "stuff" and is dismissed.  It is not "stuff" - it is labor, time, energy, sacrifice - we don't get stuff for free, rather we earn and trade our earnings for these things.  It is an indirect form of slavery to take someone's belongings - you've stolen their labor and time.  
 
Insurance companies don't make up for all that you've lost - so you always lose time and energy out of your life, never to be returned.  That time you spent working and saving?  Gone.  To someone else's benefit, against your will.
 
 
And you're so right, you have to get over the fear.  It's creepy being in your house when people have broken in and invaded it.  I never realized how that would feel until it happened.  And then all the paranoia that goes with it.  

I sent an email to the Lynnwood Guitar Center manager, asking for information. I suggested that even though he'd been instructed not to talk to me, since the case had been closed and the police were no longer interested it should be OK now. I asked him for the names of the people who sold my gear to GC, and what it would take to review the security video.
 
The manager did not reply to me directly. Instead, he forwarded my email to someone at Guitar Center corporate, identified in his signature as "Regional Investigator". He sent me the following reply:
 

I received a request for information that you sent to {name redacted} at Lynwood Guitar Center.  I appreciate your position and I’m sorry that somebody took your items.  Unfortunately, the information requested can only be released to a subpoena or to Law Enforcement.  Due to liabilities {my emphasis} we can’t release the personal information of the subjects of the investigation.  Also, any video evidence would also need to be requested through subpoena or released to Law Enforcement.  In addition, retention for video wouldn’t go back that far, if we had it at all.  I’m going to check with the store regarding the serial numbers requested, as I’m not familiar with this case .  I’m sure the police have the subject information and it would probably be easier to obtain it from them.  We don’t want to seem uncooperative and I hope you understand the reasons why (industry wide) that retailers can’t provide this information without proper legal requests.  I am more than happy to work with Everett police to identify and properly close this investigation.

 
So they are afraid the perpetrators might sue them for violating their privacy! 
 
 

Voda La Void

sharke

 
Looks like the criminals have won, at least in some quarters anyway. 
 
I can't speak for Bitflipper, but I would guess that with everything he's been through the last thing he needs to hear is someone telling him that he's putting his family in harms way by moving them in. 
 
He got burgled for chrissakes, not home invaded and held hostage. You cannot live the rest of your life in fear because your house got broken into. 

They do win, mostly.  Crime pays, unfortunately, in the business of theft.  No one sees property as work and time out of your life, so your property is merely "stuff" and is dismissed.  It is not "stuff" - it is labor, time, energy, sacrifice - we don't get stuff for free, rather we earn and trade our earnings for these things.  It is an indirect form of slavery to take someone's belongings - you've stolen their labor and time.  
 
Insurance companies don't make up for all that you've lost - so you always lose time and energy out of your life, never to be returned.  That time you spent working and saving?  Gone.  To someone else's benefit, against your will.
 
 
And you're so right, you have to get over the fear.  It's creepy being in your house when people have broken in and invaded it.  I never realized how that would feel until it happened.  And then all the paranoia that goes with it.  

I still don't get that crime pays. Most of these ****s are in and out of jail their whole lives and/or risking their lives by getting mixed up with extremely shady characters. You hear of people doing armed robberies for a few thousand dollars and you think really? You weighed up the risk/reward ratio and concluded that a near certainty of getting caught and jailed for 10 years was worth the prize of a few measly thousand bucks that you're going to blow in a couple of weeks? I wonder how many criminals there are out there who, toward the end of their lives, figured that it was "worth it." 

Wow, all this indifference on the part of law enforcement and Guitar Center is disgusting. Isn't it a crime to buy/sell stolen goods? Why isn't Guitar Center worried about that? Maybe their corporate people need to be reminded about their complicity in this crime.

All I can think of is that Chief Wiggins and Co. are in charge of law enforcement in the greater Everett Wa. area.

Maybe a civil lawsuit against GC would remind them that there are two sides involved.

This whole mess infuriates me. There is evidence the neighbors took the stuff but it was ignored or disregarded by the cops. The insurance company trying to jack you around. 2 law agencies ignoring or disregarding the fact that GC is taking in stolen gear. Then the letter saying to pretty much go pound sand.
 
I would be talking to the city council, the police chief, the media, let GC know that a lawsuit could follow shortly, creeping out and harassing the neighborhood thief and anything else i could think of. It may all merely be tilting at windmills but there would not be a windmill that would be safe!

bitflipper
I sent an email to the Lynnwood Guitar Center manager, asking for information. I suggested that even though he'd been instructed not to talk to me, since the case had been closed and the police were no longer interested it should be OK now. I asked him for the names of the people who sold my gear to GC, and what it would take to review the security video.
 
The manager did not reply to me directly. Instead, he forwarded my email to someone at Guitar Center corporate, identified in his signature as "Regional Investigator". He sent me the following reply:
 

I received a request for information that you sent to {name redacted} at Lynwood Guitar Center.  I appreciate your position and I’m sorry that somebody took your items.  Unfortunately, the information requested can only be released to a subpoena or to Law Enforcement.  Due to liabilities {my emphasis} we can’t release the personal information of the subjects of the investigation.  Also, any video evidence would also need to be requested through subpoena or released to Law Enforcement.  In addition, retention for video wouldn’t go back that far, if we had it at all.  I’m going to check with the store regarding the serial numbers requested, as I’m not familiar with this case .  I’m sure the police have the subject information and it would probably be easier to obtain it from them.  We don’t want to seem uncooperative and I hope you understand the reasons why (industry wide) that retailers can’t provide this information without proper legal requests.  I am more than happy to work with Everett police to identify and properly close this investigation.

 
So they are afraid the perpetrators might sue them for violating their privacy! 
 
 

WOW! I can't believe that email you got. Bitflipper, it sounds to me like the entire company knows it's buying stolen goods, much like pawn shops and that's how they handle it. Thing is. Did they return you your equipment they had knowing it was stolen? They obviously are making every attempt to avoid returning you your equipment which they know is stolen. If not then wouldn't that make them a party to the commission of a crime considering they are knowingly holding stolen goods? 
 
I am no lawyer that's for sure but I thought I would suggest that idea. This just really makes me upset and to hear about, I've had things stolen from me in a similar manor in the past and believe me when I say I feel your pain my friend.