[Leica] The Full and Complete Number

[Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>]

At 08:17 AM 6/20/01 -0600, John Collier wrote:
>The fear is that Bad Person will go to his local constabulary and report HIS
>camera as being stolen and give them your serial number. He then Discovers
>that you have His camera and the burly but not bright Lads in Blue come and
>get it for him. By the time everything is sorted out, the Bad Person has
>sold your camera and moved to a country with no extradition treaty with your
>country of residence.
>
>

This scenario is most absurd, in the US, at least.  Police require proof of
ownership before undertaking the seizure of property -- that is, if someone
reported some piece of mine as being HIS property, the police will want to
see HIS proof of ownership before proceeding.  As he would be unable to
produce such, the issue dies there, and Ronnie Wrongdoer will be a guest at
the Crossbar Hotel for a few years as a result.

Beyond that, I CAN prove where I got MY stuff and still have the receipts
for it.  Might take me a while to find some of them, but I can produce
such, and all are from reputable dealers.

Around six or seven years back, the manager of a local camera store had his
house broken into and all his Nikon gear taken.  He put in an insurance
claim and was paid almost immediately.  A week later, the thief came into
the fellow's store and tried to hawk the gear.  He DID leave the premises
- -- in hand-cuffs.  (The thief was a former client of mine, incidentally:
as I told you, these crooks are DUMB.)

Another major reason folks don't list the entire serial number, of course,
is often laziness.

Marc

msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
Cha robh bąs fir gun ghrąs fir!