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Re:Ex-Microsoft dev used test account to swipe $10M in store... by ovi256 on Thursday July 18, 2019 @08:15AM (#20468949)
While these things happen, it's an overly negative view. A citizen reporting a theft has a very low probability of a negative outcome from his interaction with the police.

>nothing to gain from using the justice system

Insurance may require the theft to be reported before they cover any claims.

Re:Ex-Microsoft dev used test account to swipe $10M in store... by _jal on Thursday July 18, 2019 @10:11AM (#20469936)
> Insurance may require the theft to be reported before they cover any claims

Yes, that's the reason to report.

Another reason not to, if you don't have insurance: creepy cops being creepy at you. Story time:

Walking home with my then-housemate after dinner that involved drinking, we were mugged. Minor violence, lost our wallets.

I called the cops. They wanted to come the next day to do an interview, which I declined, pointing out they weren't going to try to find the wallets, so what's the point? At which point cop starts getting weird, first saying they need their statistics for better funding. I still decline, and he says "Well, we'll send someone anyway" and hangs up.

Sure enough, a cop shows up the next day. I tell him I don't need his services and he starts pressuring me for a report. At this point, I'm pissed and tell him to leave; he makes vague noises about maybe not responding to this block very quickly in the future; I barely manage not to say something really rude that most likely would have escalated things.

My policy now: if I'll probably die anyway, or if it involves enough money that I can't ignore it, I might call the cops. Otherwise I'll take my chances that inviting more shitty people to a shitshow will just turn it worse.

FTP.

Re:Ex-Microsoft dev used test account to swipe $10M in store... by celticmusic on Thursday July 18, 2019 @03:27PM (#20473136)
What people don't understand is that when you call the police, you have no control over the situation anymore, the police do.

If you can reasonable keep control (and that could be a simply having the ability to walk away) then do that instead of calling the police.

Once you call them, you're trusting that they won't turn on you, or take issue with you.