Private Investigations: Finding Your Stolen Property

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation there were approximately 8,277,829 property crimes reported by law enforcement in 2014. These property crime reports include burglaries, vehicular theft, and larceny-thefts, with an estimated 14.3 billion in financial losses for the victims of these crimes. Of the total number of arrests made by law enforcement, only about 10 percent were for property crimes—even though property crimes make up a large sum of criminal reports.

Police Departments across the country have difficulty prioritizing theft investigations over those involving physical violence. Consequently, the theft of your grandmother’s pearl earrings will most likely not be a priority for the local law enforcement. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a police department can have to manage up to 50 reports of burglaries and around ninety percent of these cases will go unsolved.

Art Theft

The United States’ largest property crime, the Isabelle Stuart Gardner Museum heist, still remains unsolved. The financial losses incurred by the one property crime totaled more than $600 million. None of the stolen paintings have been recovered even after two decades. Private art collections or family heirlooms can be targets for criminals. However, private investigators can be extremely useful tools in finding your stolen property when law enforcement cannot help. Private Investigators have the experience and necessary tools needed to find your property in a timely manner. Unlikely police departments, private investigators can give your case individual attention in order to recover your valuables.

Electronic Theft

The FBI’s National Crime Information Center also tracked the number of reported electronic thefts in the United States. Laptop thefts have increase almost fifty percent from 2007 until 2009. The number of reports jumped from 73,700 to 109,000. During the same period, the number of reported thefts of cell phones also increased about 33 percent. More shockingly, the amount of theft of music players reports increased over ninety percent, with the number of reports rising from 8,900 to over 17,000.  More recent estimates suggest that 1.6 million smart phones were stolen in 2012 to 3.1 million in 2013.

Stolen personal electronics are not always reported to police in order to avoid potentially wasted time. Many people have opted for a private investigation in order to ensure more attention to their particular case.

How Private Investigators Can Help

With property theft it is important to act as quickly as possible. Contact the police to create an official report, but also hire a private investigator to ensure that you will have the best chance of finding your stolen items. Private investigators are able to dedicate many more hours than individual police officers because they often have a smaller caseload.

Private Investigators Can:

  • Conduct interviews with witnesses, pawn shops, and institutions
  • Dedicate more hours to a single case
  • Provide positive results more frequently than law enforcement
  • Begin investigating right away
  • Depending on the victims preferences, collect evidence for prosecution
  • Track the sale of stolen goods online
  • Conduct a more inconspicuous investigation—in order to avoid tipping off the perpetrator

Stolen items can have significant sentimental value and therefore are priceless, hire a private investigator to ensure you have the best chance of being reunited with your belongings.

Tiffany Walker – Blog Writer, Lauth Investigations