Store owners and police will not help me out

[lucasmorter]

i lost my wallet and i think that when i was at the store it fell out of my pocket. i am pretty sure the fellow behind me picked it up and made off with it. i asked them to see the tapes and all of the sudden the forgot how to speak english even though i go there every day and know they speak it just fine. then they had their kid talk to me and he told me if i wanted to see the tapes i had to ask the people that were pretending not to speak english so i went home and contacted the police the dispatch told me that they would send out an officer to get the tapes for me then the officer contacted me back by phone and said that reviewing the tapes was a waste of their time.

so what do i do now? can i do something to see these tapes and see id the guy behind me picked up my wallet. and if the tapes were erased can i file a lawsuit against the police department for saying that helping me is a wast of their time

THE COP EVEN ASKED ME WHAT STORE IT WAS BEFORE HE REFUSED TO COME OUT SEEMS TO ME THAT THAT HE JUST DIDNT WANNA DEAL WITH IT.

 

[mightymoose]

You don't KNOW that you lost it there. You could have lost it anywhere.
The store isn't required to show you the tapes, but you could make a complaint to the police department that they didn't investigate a possible theft. In CA if someone found your wallet and didn't make a legitimate effort to return it to the rightful owner then it would be considered a theft... I assume NY has a similar law.
Video tapes wouldn't necessarily show you dropping your wallet either. It depends on where it happened in the store, if it happened in the store... and the quality of the video for purposes of identifying the person behind you is probably extremely poor.
Your wallet is gone and the tape is unlikely to help you get it back, but the lack of service from the police would tick me off too. A well placed phone call should get you an officer, but still, that doesn't mean he will find anything on the tape... but at least you would know it was checked.

 

[lucasmorter]

i appreciate the response mightymoose heres the thing i have a large hole in my back pocket and i had just paid for my things at the store and put the wallet in my back pocket right at the register and i am 99.9% sure that it fell out right when i put it in that pocket. i am in oregon and it seems to me that if the store has a right to tape me without signed permission i should have the right to view the tape as well. i didnt even go an entire block before i noticed it was gone and i was on a bike so i immediately turned around and looked around the exact same route i took. there was not really anyone else in the parking lot or walking around on the street and there was just one guy behind me in the store. basically i just wanna see the guys face so i can hunt him down as i am sure if he was at that specific store he lives close by as it is over priced and nobody goes there unless they live really close because there is a few cheaper stores that are close too.

and i always knew that i hated cops as they have done things to me that were completely unjust they have asked me before if i was selling crack they have threatened to write me a 600 dollar ticket for public intoxication because there was a beer can on the sidewalk where i was talking to a freind and one time they accused me of driving around in the grass of the hospital next to my house when i was clearly pulling out of my driveway.

seems to me they kinda just do whatever they want around here they seized my freinds bike the other day for riding on the sidewalk when he was standing holding his bike waiting for someone to bring him a house key.

 

[mightymoose]

Well i don't mean to sound rude about it... but it seems that you shouldn't be keeping your wallet in your back pocket if it has such a large hole!
No, the store does not have to show you the video. You are in a public place and have no reasonable expectation of privacy. The video is for their use, not yours, but they will usually let police review it when a crime occurs. They don't even have to let police look at it without a court order if they want.
I would guess that your negative attitude toward police, for whatever reasons you might have, play into their not wanting to help you... but regardless, they should, and you can make the complaint if they aren't.
Anyway- even if you did get to see the video it is unlikely that you would get something with good enough quality to identify the person that might have picked up the wallet, and the incident might not even appear on tape depending upon where the cameras are directed. Even so- if you did identify the guy and "hunt him down", what do you expect to do at that point?
Make your complaint to the police department, make your report for lost property, and insist that they check with the store and view the video at the very least.
Maybe it was a clerk at the store that picked it up?
Maybe the guy behind you gave it to the clerk?
No telling what they might find... just don't count on getting a good picture that will ID the guy behind you.

 

[lucasmorter]

i have never reaqlly had a negative attitude towards police until now. it was either the guy behind me that picked it up or the store owner and i know for a fact that the video would be of good enough quality to see who picked it up because i go in that store every day and can see the screen that is connected to their cameras. and now im thinking if that guy behing me didnt get it than the asians must have it now and thats probly why now they would not let me see the tapes and and why they look scared and nervous when i go to get coffee and smokes before work.

 

[army judge]

i have never reaqlly had a negative attitude towards police until now. it was either the guy behind me that picked it up or the store owner and i know for a fact that the video would be of good enough quality to see who picked it up because i go in that store every day and can see the screen that is connected to their cameras. and now im thinking if that guy behing me didnt get it than the asians must have it now and thats probly why now they would not let me see the tapes and and why they look scared and nervous when i go to get coffee and smokes before work.

Assuming your suspicions are correct, what LEGAL way do you think is available for you to get the store owner (whatever their race might be), to show you the videotape?

Even if they wanted to show you the tape, did you know that many stores destroy the tape every 8-24 hours?

Finally, I'm sure you remember the tapes that captured the beating of Rodney King, right?

What did the tapes "prove" in that matter?

I'm sorry your wallet "disappeared".

Heck, I'm like you, dude; they probably got your wallet and your loot.

You'll never prove it.

Sometimes, "they" just getcha, dude.

It sucks when you been got, but you still been got.

 

[jacksgal]

If the store video tapes using VCR type videos those tapes are usually taped over next day at earliest or next week. Furthermore these tapes (if they exist) might only record areas that the security staff are looking at for that moment. meaning if staff is watching someone in can foods section then there is no recording in any other section even though it might appear on a monitor. The staff has other things to do than allow the general public to view hours upon hours of tape that may have nothing on it. the only way to get to view these tapes (if any) is through court order. Its not likely you can get such an order. Even if you saw tape what good what that do you unless you know the person who saw wallet and picked it up

 

[mightymoose]

Even if they wanted to show you the tape, did you know that many stores destroy the tape every 8-24 hours?

It is also not unusual to have no recording at all. The cameras are on, but no tape. Many places are going digital these days, but this sounds like a small store likely to be running a VHS recorder... that isn't necessarily recording.