fencing stolen jewelry in nyc?

[janedoe]

Hello,

I was recently burglarized due to my own carelessness. The thieves took my laptop and carefully selected every piece of gold jewelry I had

[e-man]

With all respect for your predicament, I think I am going to speak for most people on here, Why dont you ask the responding officers who took the burglary report, or the investigating detectives.???
You did file a police report right?

[janedoe]

overburdened pd

Hey E-man--

to be honest, I did try to consult the officers who took the original report, but I wasn't very encouraged by their reaction. They weren't interested in any details, and I only later (through internet research) discovered that I needed to describe in detail the stolen items. They didn't want to see the scene of the burglary, they didn't ask any pertinent questions such as whether there were witnesses, suspects, etc. and when I phoned in to follow up on the report, I discovered that they'd gotten the date of the burglary wrong.
They were very unforthcoming with information and gave the same rote answers over and over, and I got the sense that they just wanted to blow me off as quickly as possible.
I don't really know how much I can reasonably expect from police officers. I have one good friend on the LAPD and she told me that the bottom line is that police are overburdened with case work. Rather than make a nuisance of myself with officers in Brooklyn by calling them repeatedly with questions, I thought I'd ask officers anonymously when they were in a more leisurely mood.http://forums.officer.com/forums/new...te=1&p=413184#
Smilie Plus, I'm not very good on the phone.
I thought I might get more information when I was speaking with officers who didn't have to answer in an official capacity. There may be some other civilian posters out there who've been burgled and have some advice. Anything constructive is much appreciated.

[Groundhog]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news jane, but unless you're stuff was estate quality with collector value, it may have already went into the smelter. Even then it might get melted down unless it was stolen to order. At first it sounded like you were hit by pros since they culled the good stuff from the costume, but pros wouldn't have had a straight shooter and would have taken the pearls and the fur. It probably went straight to a crack house and got traded for dope.

As far as what you could do for yourself, I'd tell someone here to visit as many of the local pawn shops with detailed descriptions of your stuff and copies of your report. Look around through your photo albums and check with friends & family to see if you've got any pictures of yourself wearing the stolen pieces. We also have a some monthly "antique shows" that have a large number of estate jewelry dealers with booths. Some of them will buy stuff off the street.

Most of our so-called "fencing" operations double as crack houses. Not being real familiar with NYC, I couldn't really offer you a guess as to where you're stuff went there. It's probably not much different than here, just a larger scale.

[janedoe]

best advice i've gotten so far-- straight shooter?

howdy, Groundhog--

While your honesty was painful, it was very welcome and so far the most enlightening information I've gotten.

What is a "straight shooter?"

In this case, the "estate" quality of the stuff taken depends on how savvy the perpetrators are. The bracelet had a lot of "moveable" charms on it, and I think the average person would recognize it as valuable for the craftsmanship, but if these are crackhead weirdos who view spare change and precious gems with the same bloodshot eye, maybe not. . .

Thanks a bunch-- I think one of the worst things about this whole experience is the mystery of it all.

[Groundhog]

"Straight-shooter" = urban slang for a crack pipe here in the ATL.

You're welcome. Good luck. Buy a floor safe.