I was delivering an order for a customer and saw some guy messing with the bikes on a bike rack using a screwdriver. Then another guy showed up, so the first one stopped, slipped the screwdriver into his pocket, and started smoking a cigarette like nothing was going on. I was debating whether to report it or not - but then I noticed his jacket said “Russia” in big letters on the back, and that settled it for me.
That was only the second time in my life I’ve called the emergency number.
I’ve thought about this problem and don’t have a generally applicable answer.
On the one hand, I don’t want someone to steal my bike or have their bike stolen.
On the other, the police are the worst and will probably make the situation worse.
So I lean towards “don’t call the cops”, but it feels like there should be something to do other than taking on the full risk of intervening yourself.
I’ve literally had my home broken into and stuff stolen from it. It was the one time in my life that I ever called the police. They trampled through my place, made a mess and broke more things, and then decided I was reporting a suspicious amount of electronics and accused me of trying to do some kind of insurance fraud.
Fuck cops.