Question for LEO's about taking illegal guns off the street?

[Martin Draco]

I was wondering if there are any LEO's on here that could tell me why when a gun is stolen from a vehicle or a home they don't usually dust for prints. I would think it would probably help to prevent some violent crimes. Just wondering

 

[VUPDblue]

Are you asking why they don't dust the house/car as part of the investigation?

 

[Martin Draco]

Are you asking why they don't dust the house/car as part of the investigation?

Yes. I was just curious about this.

 

[VUPDblue]

I guess it would depend on the circumstances of theft or burglary.

 

[IndyGunworks]

cost prohibitive to use a bunch of rescources for a small burglary??

 

[Martin Draco]

I would think any time a gun is stolen there is great potential in it being used in a violent crime. If they dusted for prints every time a gun is stolen and perhaps had stricter penalties for these criminal stealing guns rather than lets say a DVD player it would help curb some more serious crimes in the future. I could be wrong.....

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Stricter penalties = / = crime prevention

Cost of resources is the biggest issue.


-J-

 

[VUPDblue]

IMHO it is a cost/benefit equation. If they dust for prints, and get a bunch, then they have to go and eliminate every single print they collect before they might find one that belonged to the thief. That's to say that there are a lot of folks' prints who are likely to be in your home/car, not just you and the thief. It would take a significant amount of resources to conduct that kind of investigation and probably wouldn't be seen as "worth it" for a burglary, even if a gun was involved.

 

[E5RANGER375]

I know people who will do it for you if your interested. (unless this is all hypothetical). there are ways to catch your guy without the police if they wont act.

 

[irishfan]

I know people who will do it for you if your interested. (unless this is all hypothetical). there are ways to catch your guy without the police if they wont act.

 

[brotherbill3]

I am not an LEO, but I recall haveing my car broken into back in college (ok dating myself ... 20 yrs go) ... the culprit left a screwdriver. I didn't handle w/ bare hands, but I was told that prints would only help if they had someone to compare them too. I know that scan / comparison abilities of computers are much better; but that could be the reason. If they don't have anything to compare to there is no point ... the amount of comparing (prints from crimes to known criminal print data bases) would be huge and require a huge amount of computer power. ... its not as easy as TV makes it seem.

Just a thought.

 

[Martin Draco]

I am not an LEO, but I recall haveing my car broken into back in college (ok dating myself ... 20 yrs go) ... the culprit left a screwdriver. I didn't handle w/ bare hands, but I was told that prints would only help if they had someone to compare them too. I know that scan / comparison abilities of computers are much better; but that could be the reason. If they don't have anything to compare to there is no point ... the amount of comparing (prints from crimes to known criminal print data bases) would be huge and require a huge amount of computer power. ... its not as easy as TV makes it seem.

Just a thought.

Stupid CSI Miami has duped me again!!!

 

[Pocketman]

Think what it would cost to have CSI investigate every burglery and theft. It's a simple matter of bang for the buck.

 

[4sarge]

Stupid CSI Miami has duped me again!!!

Pretty Close to the Truth. I remember when AFIS came on line it was supposed to be the cure. Well it isn't. Fingerprint our Illegal Brothers with their 6 or so supposed Legal Names, add a few aliases, stolen ID and AFIS rarely came up with a correct match. Junk In, Junk Out. The old timers were meticulous in taking their prints and quality has seemed to escape us nowadays

 

[E5RANGER375]

yes, but at least they would have the evidence if a suspect ever developed. if you have it privately done, i dont think its admissible in court, but still could help out down the road. if it was my own **** that was stolen, it would be done.
maybe there are usable prints of the thief or thieves, and maybe there arent. but if its there, i would want to have it.

 

[junglerogue]

I actually had someone ask me to dust an exterior brick for fingerprints. I obliged the homeowner (customer service, and it was a slow night), however as soon as I asked when he'd like to come down to the station for comparative prints...he said he'd set up a time in the future. Too much CSI Miami
YouTube - CSI Miami - Endless Caruso One Liners

 

[RobbLG]

I know people who will do it for you if your interested. (unless this is all hypothetical). there are ways to catch your guy without the police if they wont act.

A pair of cement boots will keep them from taking any more guns...

 

[Gabriel]

I actually had someone ask me to dust an exterior brick for fingerprints.

Yeah, I've had people want rocks and bricks dusted. I've also been told I need to reconstruct shattered automotive glass windows and get prints from them. We aren't CSI and I don't have ten years to try to put a glass window back together for no reason.

 

[Cat-Herder]

Yeah, I've had people want rocks and bricks dusted. I've also been told I need to reconstruct shattered automotive glass windows and get prints from them. We aren't CSI and I don't have ten years to try to put a glass window back together for no reason.

but...they do it in less than an hour on TV!!!

i had a firearm stolen in a break-in many years ago, and the detective dusted for prints. i lived in Broadripple and the old ladies across the street saw the guy, ...and knew him from church.
The police never recovered the pistol, but the "suspect" was dumb enough to stay in the area after he'd been fingered and I found him about a week later...
you can't fix crackhead. crackhead is just plain broke.

 

[Yamaha]

the mess created can play a factor as well.......that powder does go everywhere