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February 15, 2012
Petrol station names and shames 'pump and run' thieves
Published: 30 Oct 09 10:56 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/22970/20091030/
A petrol-station owner in Växjö in southern Sweden grew so tired of customers filling up and driving off without paying that he identified them with a photo at the entrance to his station.
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"We have visited the station and the photographs have been taken down," detective chief inspector Stefan Karlsson at Växjö police told the TT news agency.
The police have also framed a report about the incident but have not yet made a decision over whether the disgruntled petrol station owner is suspected of any criminal offence.
"I'll have to take the hit if it comes. We can not be robbed of petrol worth up to 30,000 kronor ($4,300) without doing something about it," Håkan Emvall told Sveriges Radio Kronoberg.
Emvall finally had enough of police inaction when the same men filled up their cars and drove off without paying for the third time in a week. Despite repeated reports to the police the men were allowed to continue and Emvall decided to take the law into his own hands.
The photographs that were published at the entrance to the station depicted the two men after having just filled up a Saab, with the registration number written below. He furthermore labelled the two men as "hit-and-run petrol thieves".
The question has now arisen over whether it is legal to claim and identify someone as a criminal.
Retail trade organization, Svensk Handel, does not think so but Emvall has in his defence cited a decision by the Skåne police to publish surveillance camera pictures of suspected criminals on its homepage.
The Skåne police force is currently seeking help and tips from the public to solve a series of frauds and robberies.
Växjö police will in the near future offer its view of the use of the petrol station's surveillance cameras in this manner.
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Yet, how hard it would be to find the criminal with photographs and a license plate photo? And knock on their home doors to ask may I see the receipt for the gasoline purchase? If they can't produce the receipt, they were shop lifting and should be deal with in those terms...
Then again... it's too much work to do that for the swedish police... it's much easier to victimize the victim...
Law and order in the EU is for the criminal not the victim.
Why have the Vaxjö police not arrested the thieves immediately?
It looks like the police are actually deliberately trying to defend a criminals right to commit a crime.
Now that would be a good idea and it would be quite a bit more newsworthy than this rubbish story.
Indeed haven´t we all?
For example, try and get 'willing witnesses' to a crime and see how frustrating it can be to build a case against an alleged criminal. I have some horror stories about that,including a young officer who was attacked by a youth with a razor. The officer never worked again and a busful of people watched. Would anyone come to court to witness....dream on.
The mistake Emvall appears to have made is to label the 'offenders' as thieves instead of alleged thieves. I do,however, sympathise fully with his dilemna and would hope the police will also do the same.
The police cannot FIND and ARREST these people??
But they have NO PROBLEM going after the VICTIM?
Kidnapped children could NOT be found by the Swedish police during a 6 month investigation - then daddy comes over and finds them in 1 week!!! What the F!
I really wish I understood the law enforcement procedures in this country.
Rushing to judgment, maybe you are right, but hey we are hearing a lot of bad police work in Sweden lately, and will taint their image in the eyes of law abiding citizens.
As DamnImmigrant pointed out: remember that case of kidnapped children and awful police work for starters...
Good for the gas station owner! Fight back! You submitted a report and no police action.
Fight back!
My girlfriend at the time asked me how do you know how much to pay before you fill. I said you insert you credit card and let the tank run until full or stop it at the price level. And with cash, you just give the person however much money you have, 200sek, 300sek whatever.
It does seem a convenience the way it is done in Sweden, but its not much more difficult to do it the...I guess American way? Others probably do it like us too. Alas, someone abuses the privilege as is human nature, and it will get taken away.
You forgot left is right and right is left and welcome to the 'MATRIX"
A month ago, some neighbours daughter called the police because of a physical fight with her dad. Two hours later no police and she finally had to get the hell out of there. But a month earlier a neighbour found a hurt porcupine and called the police who came within 30 minutes. Talk about confused priorities!
1) Sweden needs to change their laws and allow it, or even make it mandatory, that all criminals are named and their pictures shown so citizens can protect themselves.
2) Why not change the gas station to one where you have to pay first, by either using a card outside or cash inside before you can pump gas?