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BoredCop t1_jdlja01 wrote

They don't care what it costs to the victim, only what it can gain for themselves. And yes, damages often greatly exceed the market value of the stolen goods.

Also, some thieves will misguidedly attempt anti-forensics such as hosing the place down with a fire extinguisher thinking it makes it harder to collect fingerprints or DNA. A few years ago we caught one burglary gang who routinely pepper sprayed any area they thought they had left finger prints on, leaving the unpleasant cleanup for the homeowners. Thieves do weird and destructive stuff that doesn't always make sense to someone who isn't out of his mind on drugs.

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ClumsyGnatcatcher OP t1_jdljipt wrote

Will the thieves ever pay the damages when caught or anything or does the charges get increased with increased damages?

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BoredCop t1_jdljur4 wrote

Depends on jurisdiction, I guess.

Here in Norway it is customary to file for damages in addition to the punishment, so the sentence may say "two months in prison plus pay X amount to victim A and Y amount to victim B.

The problem, of course, is that they rarely have any money or assets worth anything so there's nothing to recover for damages.

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ClumsyGnatcatcher OP t1_jdlk1v4 wrote

>Here in Norway it is customary to file for damages in addition to the punishment, so the sentence may say "two months in prison plus pay X amount to victim A and Y amount to victim B.

So, usually the victim never gets made whole again?

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BoredCop t1_jdll2n8 wrote

Never is a long time.

What usually happens is, a government collections agency tries to collect on behalf of the victim and forwards any money they manage to get. Because this is a government service funded by taxpayers, the collection process doesn't cost anything for the victim. They will check for any assets such as property, vehicles, bank accounts etc in the convict's name and collect from that if possible unless the convict pays within a certain time.

If this fails because there are no assets, and if there's no current income to garnish, they put collections on hold until such time as there is something. If/when the thief gets a job or receives other income (including welfare), they'll start collecting by garnishing the wages. They don't take so much that the convict has nothing left to live on, however, as that would only force them to commit more crimes.

The statute on such collection doesn't run out until 10 years and can be extended, extensions are routinely granted. So if the thief turns his life around and gets a job at some point in the future, the victim might begin to receive a trickle of reparation money long after the sentence.

As a practical matter, almost everyone has insurance so the thief ends up owing the insurance company for ever while the victim gets damages covered by insurance.

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Martijngamer t1_jdlluzh wrote

Here in the Netherlands the government victim collection agency can give you a (limited) pre-payment if they can't collect from the thief within a certain amount of time.

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