Stupid Thieves
So my car got broken into last night. The one nice thing about a convertible is that it assumes the interior of the car is just as untrustworthy as the exterior, so the interior storage is locked. So they didn't get the wad of electronics I had stored away, with the exception of my TomTom, which wasn't.
There's no video surveillance, so it's unlikely we'll ever know who did it. I did, however, have the TomTom registered on their site, and locked with a PIN, with my name on it, but I'm not sure if that increases the chances it will get returned to me, thrown away because they couldn't use/sell it, or if there's an easy way to reset all of that. TomTom apparently has no theft reporting thing that would allow me to disable its use or have them throw up a red flag if it's ever connected/updated online.
The San Jose police do not investigate crimes as small as this. They advised me to fill out a police report, via a handy online form, but the form itself even states right up front "this is for insurance claim" and informational purposes only. In other words, don't expect CSI to swoop in and take fingerprints. Presumably, The City has determined that crimes of this magnitude would cost more to investigate than they'd ever hope to deter or recover. And that might make sense when looking at the big picture.
But what if I'm willing to pay for that investigation out of my own pocket? This event pisses me off and I would be willing to spend several hundred dollars if it meant there was a chance the guy(s) responsible could be caught. Wouldn't that change the cost-benefit equation just a little bit for the city? Unfortunately, there's no such checkbox on the online police report form, so I'll end up paying for all of this with little hope of ever having the opportunity to be alone in the same room with this guy.
For the purposes of letting people search for my TomTom's serial number, it's Z13157J00427. If you find it, or have it, it's stolen and I'd appreciate you contacting me.