How to properly draw up and submit a statement to the police about theft of property? Sample document

Which department should I go to?

The process of accepting an application by law enforcement agencies is regulated by Art. 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation “Procedure for considering a report of a crime.” You can apply to any department with a statement of claim regarding the fact of a crime , but it is still better to submit it to the police station that is located at the scene of the crime. This way, the case will be investigated faster.

After submitting a report of theft, police officers are legally given up to 3 days to accept and consider it. But if law enforcement officers transfer your statement to the police station at the scene of the crime, then the calculation of time will begin anew.

Extension of the period is possible from 10 to 30 days under special circumstances. Sometimes it happens that a police officer refuses to accept a statement, citing some reasons. According to current legislation, refusal to accept a report of a crime is unacceptable, even if the department is located in another city . In this case, you can write a complaint against the employee who did not accept the paper.

Help from a lawyer in case of money theft

Thus, the current legislation provides the victim with broad powers to return stolen funds, but certain gaps still remain. In this regard, it would be wise to seek help from our lawyer, who:

• will take upon himself the protection of your interests at all stages of the case;
• will submit a written statement about the incident to law enforcement agencies (for more information about the application to initiate a criminal case for fraud, follow the link), bank, insurance company;
• will challenge the slightest violations of the norms of the criminal procedure code and the actions of the investigator;
• collect the required evidence;
• will draw up and file a civil claim in a criminal case if the culprit has not been found;
• will receive a copy of the writ of execution and will appeal against the actions or inaction of the bailiff.

You can contact our lawyer at any stage of the case, but the sooner you do this, the better!!!

Statute of limitations

The deadlines for filing an application are not regulated by a separate legal act; they follow from Art. 78 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Exemption from criminal liability due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.”

According to this article, the statute of limitations for theft is from 2 to 10 years. They are regulated based on the severity of the crime under parts 2 and 3 of Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

• Without aggravating circumstances (Part 1 of Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) – two years;
• With aggravating circumstances (Part 2 of Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) – six years;
• With particularly aggravating circumstances (under Part 3 of Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) – ten years.

Where to submit?

A claim for compensation for damage resulting from the commission of a crime is filed only when the offender is identified and his guilt is proven. The application is submitted to the magistrate's court if the value of the claim is less than 50,000 rubles, or the district court, if the price of the claim is more than 50,000 rubles, as well as to the court at the place of registration or actual residence of the defendant, if the citizen is in prison (this does not in any way affect the possibility consideration of the case by the court).

According to the norms of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the plaintiff is exempt from paying state duty.

How to write - step by step instructions

There are no mandatory rules for drawing up a crime report. If the victim does not want to independently write a statement to the police about the theft of property, then law enforcement officers must be called to the crime scene. The operational duty officer will draw up a protocol, under which the victim must sign.

Important! Before signing, thoroughly review the contents of the protocol for accuracy. If some points in the document are not clear to you, you have every right to demand clarification from the police officer.

If you want to write a statement of theft yourself, then follow these recommendations::

1. In the header of the application, you must indicate where the information is being transferred and by whom - full name, residential address of the applicant, his contact information (phone number or email address). The application does not have to indicate the name of the head of the department, but it is necessary to write the name of the police department itself.
2. After the header in the middle of the sheet, write the name of the document: statement of crime.
3. In the main part, you need to describe in order, in detail where, how and how the theft was committed, list the missing property, the damage caused. It is necessary to indicate all the details that may help solve the crime. It is necessary to write about the presence of places where video cameras were stolen nearby, the names of possible witnesses, and so on.
4. It is advisable to indicate the value of the stolen property. At the stage of drawing up the application, moral damage is not indicated, we are talking only about material loss.
5. In the final part, the applicant writes about a request to law enforcement agencies to find the criminals and bring them to justice.
6. Provide a list of material evidence that is attached to the application (if any).
7. At the end of the message, the date of compilation and the signature of the applicant with a transcript are indicated.

The obligation to indicate the applicant’s real name and his signature on the document is stated in Art.
141 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation “Statement of a crime.” Attention! Anonymous statements about a crime cannot be the basis for initiating a criminal case.

Samples

This is what a sample statement to the police about the theft of a phone looks like, drawn up according to all the rules.

And this is a sample statement to the police about the theft of money.

Proof

If something is taken from your hand luggage in a public place, then evidence may include::

• Damaged items (cut bag or clothes).
• Surveillance camera footage.
• Eyewitness accounts.
• Instruments of crime that the criminal may have left behind.

Theft with penetration into a home has a qualifying crime , since it is associated with a public danger. We are talking about an attack not only on the property of the victim, but also on the inviolability of his house or apartment. Here they can talk about a crime:

1. Traces of a break-in.
2. Testimony from neighbors and random eyewitnesses.
3. Records from surveillance cameras and video recorders.
4. Traces left in the room.
5. Documents for the equipment that the attackers took.
6. Instruments of crime left in or near the home (master keys, knives).

If money is stolen, evidence may include testimony from friends and relatives who might know exactly how much money the victim kept.

Important! Before the police arrive in the apartment, do not remove anything or wipe away traces. By doing this, you destroy evidence and complicate the investigation of the crime.

How to properly write a missing person's notice, and where to place it?

You shouldn’t rely solely on law enforcement agencies. This does not mean that you should personally go after the culprit. It is enough to take all possible actions to disseminate information about the theft. You have the right to post information in any publicly available sources. Most often, victims post advertisements around the city asking for a reward to provide information that will help them find the bicycle. You can place advertisements in newspapers, local radio and television. Of course, these options require payment for the provision of services.

Note!

The most effective way is to post information on the Internet. Modern social networks have all the tools to quickly find the required data or distribute it. A request for help posted online allows you to quickly notify a small locality about the actions of an attacker.

On a voluntary basis, citizens unite in search groups that inspect the basements of houses and surrounding areas as the most popular places for storing bicycles. The point of such events is that the more people know about the problem, the more difficult it is for the criminal to get rid of the vehicle and remain unnoticed.

What happens after submission?

Law enforcement agencies may consider an application received by them for no more than 30 days. The countdown begins from the moment the application is registered. During this period, the presence of corpus delicti is checked and a decision is made to initiate or refuse to initiate criminal proceedings.

After a decision on the application has been made, police officers are obliged to inform the applicant about it in accordance with the Federal Law “On the procedure for considering appeals from citizens of the Russian Federation” dated May 2, 2006 No. 59-FZ.

Illegality of refusal to accept a statement of theft

The procedure for accepting statements about committed or impending crimes is determined by the Instruction approved by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated August 29, 2014. According to its requirements, the duty station of each police department is obliged to receive citizen statements about crimes at any time of the day. They must be immediately registered in the Incident Report Book. Each application is assigned a registration number, and the citizen is given a notification coupon. It states:

• information about the employee who accepted the application;
• document registration number;
• name of the police department, its address and office telephone number;
• date of receipt;
• signature with transcript of the police officer who issued the notification ticket.

The document is handed over to the applicant, who signs for its receipt. Police officers do not have the right to refuse to accept a statement. In addition, they are required to register it in any form. Refusals on the grounds that the application was drawn up in an improper form or that the person who became the victim of thieves is absent are not lawful.

If police officers refuse to accept or register a statement, this is a reason to contact:

• to the head of the internal affairs body - at a personal meeting or through a written appeal;
• to the prosecutor's office - at a personal meeting or through a written application;
• to court.

Note!

When appealing, it is necessary to have evidence of illegal actions (inaction) of police officers. At a minimum, witness testimony should be obtained.

If a criminal case is refused

The applicant may be refused to initiate criminal proceedings; in this case, this decision can be appealed. Part 5 of Article 148 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation states that the refusal can be appealed to the prosecutor, the head of the investigative agency, or through the court . After considering the complaint, it may be left unsatisfied or the refusal to initiate proceedings may be declared illegal and a re-inspection may be ordered.

Have you had a theft? Then our articles about the peculiarities of the theft of a telephone, bicycle, weapons and ammunition, documents and money, budget funds and state property, and electricity can come to your aid.

Certificate of damage

A certificate of damage is the same document that you submit to the police in the event of a theft, just like a statement .

This document does not reveal the circumstances of the theft, but talks about the cost and appearance of the stolen items.

As a rule, such a certificate is submitted and completed at the time of application .

That is, these two documents are closely related to each other.

For example, if your car is stolen , in the certificate you describe your vehicle, namely the color, number, main features, brand, and so on.

It's the same with things.