Couldn't catch a cold

[tigersaw]

I'm in the shower and the doorbell rings. After drying off I rewind the CCTV to see who it was. Horrah, its the postie with a parcel, he's left it on the step. But who's that following him round... its the man delivering those white plastic charity sacks for old age people. There goes my parcel, staright into his delivery bag.
OK, so I have a very clear description, colour CCTV of the offence, and its only 15 minutes ago.
Ring the police, who take scant details, ask me if I'm black or white, then give me a crime number.
24 hours later and no contact.

OK, cluedo experts, given you have video evidence, clear description, and know the charity concerned, do you think you could do better than Hampshires finest with all their resources?

There's no money in these sort of crimes. They only get interested when they fine people.

[Paul the 6th]

fair play, the police are generally quite rubbish. But in the interest of getting your parcel back, have you tried contacting the charity to let them know one of their collectors has picked up a parcel which was clearly from the postman (with your name, address and paid postage)?

Also, have you agreed with royal mail that if you're not in, they can leave the parcel on your step? Usually they leave a card with all the information telling you where & when to pick it up UNLESS you've pre-arranged a "safe place" to leave the package. If you've not agreed for them to leave stuff sat on the doorstep, technically they're responsible for it being "stolen". If you have agreed for it to be left without a signature etc... then I guess you'll have to push the charity.

As for the police, ring them back and say you've just shot the postman & the charity sack thief. They'll be round in a minute

[tigersaw]

Its pretty obvious the guy intentionally stole the parcel - he was delivering those collection sacks not collecting, and he has a quick shufty before he deftly hides the theft with his bag.
I have no arrangement with royal mail, but of course although I've got a fair idea what was in the parcel, I can't be certain.
What was so sus was the guy was following the postie a few minutes behind. I pointed this out to the police, this could be a one man crime wave, but hey.
You might have a point about calling the charity, I was thinking of calling the local rag see if they want to try and embarrass someone into action.

Whats the chance it'll be the same thief collecting the charity bags?

That way you can ask him yourself.

Personally, I'd go straight to the charity HQ (ASAP), officially, with a letter and DVD (timestamped?) proof.

I'd also go back to Royal Mail and ask them why Pat didn't follow protocol yesterday.

[tigersaw]

Originally Posted by ooger

Personally, I'd go straight to the charity HQ (ASAP), officially, with a letter and DVD (timestamped?) proof.

Always iffy with CCTV. I have a sticker clearly informing there is CCTV operational, and the system only looks onto my private property.
However, with all this data protection et al, I might be doing something wrong by showing a third party the footage.

[Paul the 6th]

not sure if it counts if you're completely innocent just walking along - but if you're nicking stuff then surely you must surrender your data protection rights?

Have you checked the charity bags? The guy could just be laying white bin sacks down on peoples property purely as a cover for nicking parcels maybe? (like you said with the one man crime wave idea).

[tigersaw]

Originally Posted by Paul the 6th

Have you checked the charity bags? The guy could just be laying white bin sacks down on peoples property purely as a cover for nicking parcels maybe? (like you said with the one man crime wave idea).

They look genuine *** concern charity bags. I've kept it safe for fingerprints. lol.

If he is delivering the bags then it is plain theft, have a look to see if he put it somewhere safer for you though. If he was collecting then it could be a construed as a mistake, but they can only collect what is in a marked bag so it is still theft.

Phone the number on the bag (ask a neighbour if you were not left a bag) and report it, tell them you have contacted the police and will take no further action if the item is returned today.

Originally Posted by tigersaw

They look genuine *** concern charity bags. I've kept it safe for fingerprints. lol.

They can also tell you if the bags being dropped are genuine too.

[tigersaw]

I've emailed *** concern to see if they can link me with the local distribution. No phone number on bags.

If you saw the CCTV you'd be in no doubt it was theft.