Rummaging in front of the neighbors -- why don't they care?

[Doc Doofus]

Okay, this bothers me, but it's not a bug, just lazy design, perhaps.  But shouldn't the neighbors do something when they can clearly see you rummaging in their trash?  In the real world, you'd at least get a question, "Uh, can I help you, Doof?"

I think rummagers should have to show a little more caution.  Rummaging during the daytime should be a no-no, interrupted by the police.  (I suppose law enforcement careers should get a freebie on this from fellow officers, FISA warrants and all that.)  If the homeowners are outside, on the property, day or night, they should interrupt it and chase off the rummager.

Caught rummagers should get a brief negative moodlet and they should lose a few relationship points with the family they rummaged, but not enough to start a family feud.

[Silverdrake]

I agree! I just had a sim rummaging through the Wolff's garbage today, and Thornton came home and invited my sim inside, stink and all.

[J. M. Pescado]

They do normally react, but there are a lot of fidgety variables involved.

[moondance]

I've had a few react negatively, but my favorite was just...odd.  My sim was rummaging though a garbage can when another sim--not the resident of the home, just a random sim--happened to walk by. This random sim stopped and indicated he'd like to chat with my sim, who kept on rummaging.  The random sim stood around for another moment or two then whipped out his guitar and started playing.  Any audience will do, I guess.

[dorquemada]

Funny. My rummagers always get interrupted and insulted if noticed, and not just by trashbin's owner.  I eventually moved all activities into the night shift.

[ShortyBoo]

I tried rummaging for the first time last night, and the first house, no one came outside, but at the second house, a guy came out and yelled at my sim and it made him go home on his own. I had to drive clear back on the other side of town to continue my rummaging. But after that, no one else bothered him. And this was during the day. He works nights, so I can't send him out at night to do it.

[Sigmund]

The only time I had a sim get caught while rummaging through their neighbor's trash, the neighbor did react but it took a while. She came out and watched for a bit, went back inside, then came back out again and just watched some more. I finally got the pop-up that so-and-so was "being inappropriate" and might have to leave. That was as far as I got, since my sim then got the information they wanted out of the trash and left.

[simmilk]

My rummaging (and harvesting for that matter) always gets interrupted by them inviting me inside if they're home/awake. 

[SIMplyLisa]

My insane, stay at home artist sim rummages in her own trashcan!

[SimDebster]

Actually, trash, once put on the curb becomes public, so the police would probably not do anything since they can legally go through your trash for evidence without a warrant.  Yet it would seem that if caught doing it by the sim that lives there, I would think they would say something.

[Lorelei]

It varies as to what their reaction is. Your chances are much probably greater of getting an annoying interruption if you've queued 7 more houses after the one at which you're currently bin-rummaging, because all the queued bins-to-rummage will drop out of queue. Rawr.

"Pardon me, I cannot pause to be Mildly Insulted / Invited Inside at the moment, as I am v. v. busy messing about with your trash."

[Bass Junkie]

Actually, trash, once put on the curb becomes public, so the police would probably not do anything since they can legally go through your trash for evidence without a warrant.  Yet it would seem that if caught doing it by the sim that lives there, I would think they would say something.

There is a crime called theft by finding in Australia, I'm fairly certain that there are similar laws in the U.S. and the U.K. It is illegal to take something from the street and claim it as your own, you are required to submit the items to the police, so the owner has a chance to claim them. You may claim them if the owner does not attempt to make contact with the police after a set period of time.

[GloamingMerle]

Actually, trash, once put on the curb becomes public, so the police would probably not do anything since they can legally go through your trash for evidence without a warrant.  Yet it would seem that if caught doing it by the sim that lives there, I would think they would say something.

There is a crime called theft by finding in Australia, I'm fairly certain that there are similar laws in the U.S. and the U.K. It is illegal to take something from the street and claim it as your own, you are required to submit the items to the police, so the owner has a chance to claim them. You may claim them if the owner does not attempt to make contact with the police after a set period of time.

In the U.S., if your trash is no longer on your property, it is no longer your property. You cannot steal what isn't owned. You can only 'liberate' it. There's also a saying, "One man's trash is another man's treasure".. It never says anything about the poor guy getting tossed in jail.

[bartleby]

But shouldn't the neighbors do something when they can clearly see you rummaging in their trash?

Yesterday my ghost harvested all Riverview gardens and no neighbour complained or got scared. "Oh, look, there's a ghost stealing all our apples". No.

[morriganrant]

Actually, trash, once put on the curb becomes public, so the police would probably not do anything since they can legally go through your trash for evidence without a warrant.  Yet it would seem that if caught doing it by the sim that lives there, I would think they would say something.

There is a crime called theft by finding in Australia, I'm fairly certain that there are similar laws in the U.S. and the U.K. It is illegal to take something from the street and claim it as your own, you are required to submit the items to the police, so the owner has a chance to claim them. You may claim them if the owner does not attempt to make contact with the police after a set period of time.

I believe it depends on where you are in the US. I'm pretty certain that trash put out in front of your own house here is still your property until it is taken away. The area between your yard and road is still yours to maintain, trash on your property, is your property. They can only rummage if you give consent. Dumpster diving is very illegal here. People will still rummage through other people's trash though, most people do not care. I think the law against rummaging was put into effect after a man threw away a lottery ticket that turned out to be a winner, when he'd gone looking for it there was a man who had liberated it from the trash standing there.

[jolrei]

Here in NL it is technically forbidden by law, but a long standing practice (older than the bloody government). They're now looking into changing the law to allow it.

In Ottawa, I have noticed that people who have good stuff out with their trash tend to set it out separately from the trashcan so people can see it.

[Doc Doofus]

Dumpster-divers are welcome to my trash.  It's the cheapest form of recycling.

[Zazazu]

Here in NL it is technically forbidden by law, but a long standing practice (older than the bloody government). They're now looking into changing the law to allow it.

In Ottawa, I have noticed that people who have good stuff out with their trash tend to set it out separately from the trashcan so people can see it.

Yes, the free furniture bazaar. In the 'burbs, this is commonly a yearly event in spring right after the first round of garage sales. In the city, this happens year round as people switch apartments.

[minidoxigirli]

In Ottawa, I have noticed that people who have good stuff out with their trash tend to set it out separately from the trashcan so people can see it.

Yes, the free furniture bazaar. In the 'burbs, this is commonly a yearly event in spring right after the first round of garage sales. In the city, this happens year round as people switch apartments.
[/quote]

I just moved into my own apartment, and got an awesome pink 50's child's toy refrigerator to use as an endtable by grabbing it off the street.  But then again, it did have a "Free" sign on it.

[Drakron]

I believe it depends on where you are in the US. I'm pretty certain that trash put out in front of your own house here is still your property until it is taken away.

As someone said, its public and that is why police does not need a warrant to search it.

http://wasteage.com/mag/waste_garbage_public_property/

Of course trash containers INSIDE your property/house are still your property ...

[chaos]

Drakron, different places have different laws. It seems logical that garbage bins set out on the street would cease to be a person's property (they're throwing the stuff out, after all), but not all places will have the same laws. For example, some places outlaw dumpster diving while others don't. You really can't assume, just because the law in one area states that garbage is public property, that it will be that way everywhere. Different states in the US, and even different cities, all have their own separate laws about these sorts of things.

Edit to remove an extra "that."

[morriganrant]

I believe it depends on where you are in the US. I'm pretty certain that trash put out in front of your own house here is still your property until it is taken away.

As someone said, its public and that is why police does not need a warrant to search it.

http://wasteage.com/mag/waste_garbage_public_property/

Of course trash containers INSIDE your property/house are still your property ...

Although I'm having trouble finding information that explicitly states curbside savaging in my area is illegal, here is one other location that has a ordnance against it. There are a few others as well.

http://www.ci.santa-maria.ca.us/newsreleases/20080805.pdf

[Drakron]

Drakron, different places have different laws.

No, they dont ...

In 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police officers did not need a warrant to examine the contents of plastic garbage bags that a homeowner had placed at the curb [California v. Greenwood, 486 U.S. 35]. The high court held that individuals could have no reasonable expectation of privacy in trash left for collection in an area accessible to the public.

As Redmon could not place his trash at curbside without violating the local ordinance, his "curb" for garbage pickup purposes was outside his garage on the shared driveway, the appeals court concluded. The path to his front door came near the garbage cans with no obstruction and was accessible by friends, guests, neighbors, solicitors, strangers, scavengers and other members of the public, the majority said.

"It takes little more than a look at the plat ... showing the Redmon location at the intersection of two city streets and the short common driveway-sidewalk arrangement with his neighbor to see how very publicly exposed and accessible Redmon left his garbage," the majority opinion said.

Separate concurring opinions by three judges mentioned "abandonment" as another reason to deny Fourth Amendment protection for garbage. Thus, if an individual customarily deposits his garbage in a receptacle and leaves it for pickup by trash collectors, "he has manifested an intent to abandon his refuse," which is "tantamount to 'throwing away' [an accepted and reasonable] subjective exception of privacy in it ...," a concurring opinion said.

Five judges joined in a dissenting opinion, asserting that trash was protected against warrantless searches because homeowners generally assume that the contents of garbage cans placed near their dwelling remain private property until the trash collectors cart the material away.

"It is tempting to suppose that the search of a garbage can could never violate [privacy rights] because the act of discarding something ... is a relinquishment of any interest in it," the dissent said. "But that answer ... would entitle the police to enter the home itself and rifle the trash cans ... found there."

Unless you are under the bizarre notion that the United States Supreme Court rulings do not count for the United States of America ... then again, you did not even brother to read what was in that link did you?

[chaos]

Actually, I did, but I obviously missed that part. Mea culpa.

[Mootilda]

Then again, the U.S. is not the entire world, which means that different places may still have different laws.