Would you report a suspected crime?

Question

My husband bought something (legitimate) from a friend the other day, this friend of his is well known for getting people in touch with a guy who sells really nice stuff for reallly cheap (e.g 50 inch plasma $300 or 20GB iPod for $120). This friend of his also works for the police department, not as an officer but in their admin staff. So basically he doesnt KNOW that the other guy is stealing the stuff he is promoting for him but you would have to be a complete idiot not to suspect it. I am annoyed as my husbands cousins and brother often buy things from this guy for ridiculous prices, they must know it is stolen but they don't care they only care about themselves. We havent bought anything from him because we have strong morals about crime BUT my husband refuses to tell the police of his suspicions because his friend who works for the cops will obviously be the one they have to speak to to get the name of the bad guy and then my husbands friend will most likely lose his job

I hate this circle of "Oh no way I would never dob in my friend" which is allowing crime like this to continue, I mean if this guy stole OUR stuff I would want someone to dob him in for sure, why do people only care when it affects them? I mean at least we are resisting the temptation to buy cheap stuff from this guy ourselves but I hate to see his brother come home with something new all grinning over how cheap it was when I know somebody is suffering over the loss of it. I am so annoyed but there is nothing I can do without my husband hating me for getting him in trouble with his friend, he just wants to not get involved. Is staying out of it an acceptable thing to do or am I just enabling this dirty criminal further?

Another thing that pisses me off is that all these guys are 'good catholics' and go to church every sunday and are married with kids on the way, how can they live such a lie pretending to be so frickin good when in reality they are almost as bad as the theif who is stealing all this crap. GRRRRRR

My God if I do report it my husbands friend will lose his job and get a criminal record and his brother and cousins will be charged and prosecuted, everyone will hate me for stuffing up so many lives, I think they need to be warned first to stop doing it!!

Answer 1

Report it . . you are in a position that will require you to answer for your non-actions later if you do not do it now.
_ EDIT_ 8/25/07

NOBODY is above the LAW.

At least contact an attorney on your own behalf . . Get the Law on Your Side.

I have seen this before and know what you are feeling . . Personally.

I knew a family in the same situation their children wound up being raised by grandparents/family because the mother found out the same info that you did and because she did nothing . . she also did some time.

You question is Way out of the Yahoo Answers Limits . . Nobody can answer this for you but YOU can . . by doing the right thing.

Answer 2

There is no halfway..... if you report it then everybody is going down including your husband if has purchased something.

Basically the bottom line is to stay out of it and don't buy anything. Yes it is wrong for them to do this but they will probably get busted at some point. If you report it yes, it will mess up a lot of lives and could put your family in danger.... who knows what people are involved. And even if the guy works in admin the police are going to get on this bigtime.

If your husband loves you he will just stay away from all this and leave it to that. That nice TV is not worth criminal charges and thousands in legal fees. That criminal charge would mean that forever he would not get real work and damage his families future.

If these people do get in trouble the police will monitor things first. If the so called friend got busted he could just "give" your husband stolen property and be busted. If they raided the friends house and he was there he could be busted with not even buying anything. Yes he can work out of it but it will cost thousands.

If you husband gives a crap he will stay out of it, not buy anything and have zero contact with this guy. Anything else means he does not care for your future.

Answer 3

i would report it ... but several layers up and hope for the best. cops stick together , how would you know who you are talking to.

i would give as much information as I could without it coming back to me.

at the end of the day, a majority have been corrupt for years. you can only do your part, report and hope that someone on the inside cares and stops it. the trouble is that it will stop it until a new group comes in and starts up again. new laws are needed to keep cops honest. 1 year prison to any cop stealing / taking a bribe.

i'd like to see a new technology device that films your encounter with a cop during a traffic stop.

Answer 4

Those who buy the stuff under such obviously shady circumstances may also be committing a crime, being accessories. It does not sound like the buyers think of themselves as part of a criminal chain of events, but it sounds like they are in way deeper than they realize.

Answer 5

I you know of the crime and don't report it...you TOO can be charged for not reporting it. Seriously. Some states have a law stating if you are involved and know something..you can be arrested. I think it is a good law. We all need to work together fighting crime sometimes

Answer 6

He can be charged for receiving stolen goods. You can't sit there and say he didn't know it was stolen because I don't know anywhere you can get a 3,200 dollar television for $300 unless it is stolen. It is people like this that give me job security.

Answer 7

Your correct. If it is stolen he is stealing from someone, and it could be you next. Call the Tip line, your name is not needed. If it's legit, then no worries.

Answer 8

Send him up the river and get the reward

Answer 9

Definitely report it, anonymously. If its square then no harm done.

Answer 10

I would report it.