Title: editor,
Author: Oleg
Company: Private person

A Waste of Time
editor,
I had the good fortune to be a tourist in your great city for five days this August. Unfortunately, I had my wallet taken as I was boarding the No. 1 bus after visiting the Hermitage. One young man kept me from making my way up the bus steps while another pushed me from behind and took my wallet and ran into the nearby park. I immediately canceled my Visa card, I will get a duplicate driver's license, and the $17 in rubles was not a great loss. The helplessness I felt at being pushed and robbed was the worst of the experience.
I thought I would be a good citizen and report the theft to the police. That was a mistake. I advise your readers not to report similar incidents to the police.
First, the police wanted me to come to their office and to bring my own interpreter at a time convenient to them. Starting at 3:00 p.m. on the day after the theft, my companion and I were interviewed for two hours in the hotel security office with the assistance of an interpreter from the hotel. Then we were taken to the district police office where we sat for another three hours in a dark hallway and in the office of a plain-clothes police officer who didn't speak English.
Then we were taken by World War II-era jeep by a uniformed police officer with our original signed statements to the district police station responsible for the area where the crime had been committed. There we stood in front of a counter while a police officer read and reread our statements. No English speakers there either.
Finally, at 7:30 p.m., we showed the officer our ballet tickets for 8:00. He seemed to show some concern. At 7:50, a senior police official — I could tell by his air of authority, gray hair, insignia and the deference shown him — came into the room and read our statements. We showed him our ballet tickets and at five minutes to eight he signed a receipt for the report and waved us out without a thank you and without a ride. We did find a taxi several blocks from the police station and arrived at the ballet 20 minutes late. It was a frustrating and frightening experience that was a waste of my time and effort.
Richard Manning
San Diego, California