Security Products and Information

Link: http://www.mflshop.co.uk/section.php?xSec=106

If your television were stolen, would you know its make, model and serial number? If you can find the receipt, you will probably be able to find out the make and model. Unless, however, you've made a special effort to write the serial number down, your television would be no different from the millions of others stolen all over the country.

If the serial number of a stolen item was known, it could then be circulated as stolen in a similar way to a registration number of a stolen car.

Not only are your chances remote of getting unidentifiable possessions returned, but also without being able to prove an item was stolen it can be very difficult to substantiate a charge against a suspect. Arresting offenders isn't difficult. Getting evidence is!

Getting evidence can be made much easier if your property can be identified by the police after they have recovered it. - You also have a chance of getting it back.

Ultra-Violet Marking

Available in all good stationers and security shops, for about a pound, are ultra-violet marker pens.

These felt-tip type pens are designed for writing on your ornaments and audio/visual equipment in an ink that is invisible to the eye under normal light.

All Police Stations in the United Kingdom have portable lights that clearly illuminate the writing on such possessions.

By printing your postcode followed by the house number, or the first three letters of your official house name, it is possible to trace an owner from anywhere in the country.

Just a few tips, though. Always mark your items underneath as the postcode can be slightly visible on non-porous surfaces, and try to renew every twelve months. Don't worry about an impending move. Simply postcode your items again. Then the police only have to make two or three phone calls to make to trace an owner instead of two or three thousand.

Photographs

For small items like jewellery which obviously cannot easily be postcoded with an ultra-violet pen, a picture is worth a thousand words!

Photographing all items against a ruler is better than any jewellers description, making it easier to make comparisons with found items.

If you have a video camera with a "Macro" lens (for close-up filming), then video record all your possessions with serial numbers and your jewellery.

On flatter items like watches, a photostat machine takes a pretty good picture.

This information is reproduced by kind permission of the The Trafford Crime Prevention Panel