Found some bikes

[cumminsman]

I'd love to get the VIN number, but there are some challenges:

1. There is almost always somebody home.

2. I would need to hop the fence and I am recovering from knee surgery.

3. The adjacent property owners are old and I cannot them at risk of retalation.

4. I live 75 mile away.

Other than that, I am all over it. ?

Omalley - Thank you for what you do and for the excellent clarification ?

75 miles away.....you got to update your location from Denmark to Washington.?

[Slackkinhard]

In my nearly 40yrs, I've found people are people, and cops are people too. To me, I really don't care what ya done or did in the past. For the sake of law enforcement, it's how you are acting right now. I absolutely thank you for dealing with the folks I don't have time for. But I beg to differ when you say it is a thankless job. If you are getting to that point in your career, where the good doesn't outweigh the bad, then it's time for a career change. I've worked in several different types of professions, and really it's all the same. There's an ebb, a flow, and a wane of everything. I think when your attitude turns negative, you can only erode value from the task at hand. In this thread, from the officers point of view, I hear only reasons why a cop CAN'T go into this yard and do something. One of my best friends is a cop, and if it were in his area of the country, it would have been looked into by now. Creativity, not negativity can help get you one step ahead of the criminals...not always one behind.

[shrubitup]

You know the people that complain about the cops are the ones that are doing the illegal acts.

not necessarily. my co-worker, the asshat, HABITUALLY flips the bird to any LEO he sees.? He said it stems from speeding tickets during college. Uh-huh, right. I got my share of tickets when I was young and learned to slow down the hard way.? He's in a position of authority and is a supposed corporate role model. I think he's a P.O.S.

[MX813]

Ok, so I have finally had enough of the cop-bashing on this one. First and foremost, I am a police officer (not for Fedaral Way, or even in King County). If you can't get past the fact that I am a police officer, go ahead and ignore the rest of this post...but for the remanider who are willing to listen-

There is no probalable cause here, as defined by case law. There is certainly reasonable suspicion, but no probable cause. Logically speaking, I would agree that this whole situation smells really bad, and that this place has stolen property (and other illegal activities) written all over it. I am not familiar with any FWPD officers, so I am not about to judge (or defend) them blindly. However, I can offer some explanations.

First and foremost, no search warrant= no legal standing to be on the property, much less check VIN's etc. Even with standing to be on property, checking VIN's would be sketchy at best. Remember, WA is the center of Liberalism in the free world, and King County is the capitol of that bullshit line of thinking when it comes to combating crime. Even most good proactive police I know have felt like throwing in the towel due to constant declining of cases, bullshit supreme court rulings, and the 9th circuit court of appeals being so @#*#ed up that the US supreme court will not even recognize their rulings as precedant when making rulings of their own.

Even with a warrant, we are no longer allowed to check serial/VIN numbers during the execution of the warrant, unless they are in plain view (turning the handlebars would not qualify) and/or we are specifically looking for stolen bikes in the warrant. If the warrant was for dope, etc, there would be no probable cause to check the bike VIN's. Such is life when you police in Washington.

Which brings me to the crux of my issue with the comments. People are so quick to blame cops for perceived laziness and/or "not caring" about the person's issue. Most police do care. Most police are pro-active. But imagine that you work hard, day after day, doing a thankless job, putting your life on the line. You miss family appointments to go to court, stay late writing reports, etc. You go to court repeatedly only to have the case sontinued each time. you finally see the inside of a court room, only to have the judge exclude a bunch of the evidence because it might adversely affect the jury (like the fact that your DUI arrest had 3 priors and was suspended for same). The jury acquits the dirtbag because they only got part of the story and the lawyer convinced them that they should have pity on his/her client. You turn around and the victim in the case is now saying that they saw the guy walking the streets, thus he didn't get punished, and thus it must be your fault??? How would you feel when all you tried to do was make arrests and earn your paycheck??? 10-plus years of that, and very few people who make these criticisms would be any better (or even as good) with their attitude. We as police get balmed for every shortfall of the crim j system, because we are the ones people have contact with.?

well said....

[SJMC_DON]

This whole cop bashing thing is interesting.... Omalley makes great points about the system tying their hands and making them the scapegoat for victims... BUT -

I grew up surrounded by cops, my father is retired beat cop / detective and the plain and simple truth is that most cops I know are cops for the wrong reasons... I AM NOT SAYING THIS ABOUT EVERY COP but I am generalizing. I had to listen for years to cops detail their shift experiences where they had administer "attitude adjustments" and the extra curricular activities with females met on the job... then theres the A-hole Snohomish Co. sherrif that made me lay face down in a snowy ditch on the Mt, Loop Hwy because I drove my truck around the same road closed sign that he and many others did... later to charge me with malicious mischief and another traffic violation, he had a chip on his shoulder and percieved me as some kind of threat despite my best attempt at being compliant. I had to take time off work to go up to Arlington and sit in court with Child molesters and pot growers just have the judge laugh and toss it out. His actions were his, not the system...

Lets talk about the Sherrifs that sit on the Cispus Rd in the GPNF waiting all day in the middle of nowhere, on a weekday waiting to write me and others a ticket while we come off Tongue Mt. and use 100yds of pavement to connect with the Valley Trail... whats up with that, is that the system at work too:confused:

Omalley, I don't wish to offend and like I said your statements make sense and you appear to be one of the ones that went into law enforcement for the right reasons... their just seems to be a psychological factor in play with a lot of cops:excuseme:

[cumminsman]

not necessarily. my co-worker, the asshat, HABITUALLY flips the bird to any LEO he sees.? He said it stems from speeding tickets during college. Uh-huh, right. I got my share of tickets when I was young and learned to slow down the hard way.? He's in a position of authority and is a supposed corporate role model. I think he's a P.O.S.

Well, speeding is illegal. I'm just saying that any contact they have had has been negative to them, so that is all they look at. You are able to realize that you were in the wrong with your tickets and go on living like the majority of us.

[rcguy68]

Why not go over to the house and just ask about the bikes tell them your looking for a bike for your kid and would they be interested in salling one.Maybe even say your not interested in the paper work because it will only be ridden on private property.If they don't want to sale ask to look at the bikes tell them you like the graphics and just snap some pics with your ph.

I recovered my sons high dallar bmx bike like this told the guys at the skat park that I liked that crank set up could I take a look at it. flipped the bike over to look at crank checked # and they where busted called cops all is history.

[06crf_er]

Why not go over to the house and just ask about the bikes tell them your looking for a bike for your kid and would they be interested in salling one.Maybe even say your not interested in the paper work because it will only be ridden on private property.If they don't want to sale ask to look at the bikes tell them you like the graphics and just snap some pics with your ph.

I recovered my sons high dallar bmx bike like this told the guys at the skat park that I liked that crank set up could I take a look at it. flipped the bike over to look at crank checked # and they where busted called cops all is history.

Works great with KIDS at a skatepark. Maybe not so much with a house full of people of questionable immgration status:excuseme:

[SeaRap7]

I for one would not want to tip them in any way manner or form. If the bikes are hot they need to be BUSTED big time. Those bikes may roll if the scum feels some heat.

[ORrooster]

My wife thinks we should 'form a posse'... ? .

I agree, most (another generalization) people who have problems with the police are probably doing something they shouldn't be and need to blame someone else for their poor decision making.

I also agree that a fair number of people become cops 'to demand respect' that would otherwise be unearned... so they end up being total dicks and abusing their positions.

I do think it is a pretty thankless occupation where after a time the bad do outweigh the good and sours even cops who originally may have started for the right reasons but get sick of getting 'beat up'... whether it be in court, online, or just in general. Same goes for a lot of teachers.

I know that when I've had to deal with police and wasn't happy about the outcome it is because technically shouldn't have been doing what it was I was doing to get myself in trouble in the first place... I gambled and lost.

I have had more good interactions with police than bad, even if I was maybe doing something a little out of line.

This said, I still roll the dice pretty often... sometimes I lose. I kind of live by my own rules... right and wrong... does not necissarily follow the same lines as legal and illegal.

I have never been 'helped' by the police with anything. Stolen property is about the only 'help' I've ever needed and they were pretty useless in this reguard but... they've got bigger problems to deal with. Although with 5 minutes of police work they could have probably solved the problem and saved me a lot of headache. On the flipside that 5 minutes of police work would probably end up being 10 hours of paperwork and courttime. What ever... I learned my lesson, shouldn't have got the stuff stolen in the first place.

[Lear]

its fishy because usually people that have bikes, have almost every major manufacturer. Most are loyal to one brand.

[CryoBolt]

Thoses have to be stolen, that is to werid to see thoses bike outthere like that. Are they locked up?

[06crf_er]

I learned my lesson, should have shot the dirty bastards in the first place.

Fixed.

[Shake]

Why are you guys accusing them of stealing bikes just because they have bikes in their back yard? Is it because they are immigrants?

I agree it is strange to see bikes not under a roof, but not unheard of. There are some idiots with bikes out there. There are also people with camaros growing grass around them on their front lawn. Are those Camaros stolen too?

[tod701]

Why are you guys accusing them of stealing bikes just because they have bikes in their back yard?

Because:

They don't have a clue about the bikes.

They don't have the coin to buy fairly new bikes.

They have them semi-hidden as far from the house and street as possible.

This is not the first batch of bikes to come and go.

They don't even know where to ride them.

Are they locked up?

Nope

[shrubitup]

Because:

They don't have a clue about the bikes.

They don't have the coin to buy fairly new bikes.

They have them semi-hidden as far from the house and street as possible.

This is not the first batch of bikes to come and go.

They don't even know where to ride them.

Nope

I think a posse may be in order. We shall strike at night.? Any possibility of cutting a hole in a neighbors fence to wheel them onto safe property? Once out of their yard we should wheel them into a rented U-haul and whisk them down to the cop shop in hopes of returning stolen property or proving that this crazy assortment of machines actually belongs haphazardly/unsecured in someone's backyard in Federal Way.

[06crf_er]

Why are you guys accusing them of stealing bikes just because they have bikes in their back yard?

Because generally speaking, people with bikes of that caliber tend not to leave them outside for the elements to have their way with them. People do often leave bikes outside but they're far from the condition of these sickles. It's suspect to say the least. I would be suspect of white bread Americans with bikes lke these just "showing up" at their house and being left outside as well.

Nice of you to try to stir the pot though.

[06crf_er]

I think a posse may be in order. We shall strike at night.? Any possibility of cutting a hole in a neighbors fence to wheel them onto safe property? Once out of their yard we should wheel them into a rented U-haul and whisk them down to the cop shop in hopes of returning stolen property or proving that this crazy assortment of machines actually belongs haphazardly/unsecured in someone's backyard in Federal Way.

You do that and the bikes are actually owned by these folks and you're in for some prosecution. Nothing good can come out of that.?

[Pincushion]

You do that and the bikes are actually owned by these folks and you're in for some prosecution. Nothing good can come out of that.?

Nah.... it's quite obvious Federal Way PD dont give a shit about stolen bikes. We'd only have to deal with the house inhabitants. Piece of cake ?

[06crf_er]

Bring your shotguns.