Posted by: Neil Stewart in CheckMEND, CheckMEND USA, Crime, Immobilise, Immobilize, Lost Property, Mobile Phones, NMPR, Police, Recipero, ReportMyLoss
 Today July 23rd it was officially agreed that CheckMEND would be the first approved due diligence service to be used and officially endorsed under a new Home Office/recycling industry code of practice.
The signing of the new code of practice by over 90% of the mobile phone recycling industry means that for the first time there are agreed guidelines for the checking of handsets offered for sale to the industry and this includes using the CheckMEND service to check the National Mobile Phone/Property Register.
Adrian Portlock CEO of Recipero the operator of CheckMEND said:
This is a major step forward for the industry and CheckMEND and we are really pleased the industry has recognised their responsibilities in checking products they are buying, this model needs to be extended to all handlers of used goods and retailers taking trade ins and we will be pushing for this to be the case, but this is an excellent start.
For more information please see the following sites:
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 As festival-goers gear up for this year’s Glastonbury Festival police in Avon and Somerset are offering some final tips and advice for a safe and crime free event.
Every year Avon and Somerset Police work closely with the festival organisers to ensure the event remains largely crime-free and a safe environment for all festival-goers.
Crime at the festival is generally low and the crime that does occur can be easily prevented. Police advise festival-goers to leave valuables at home and only take essential items to the festival with them.
If you do have to take valuable items with you make use of the free property lock-ups throughout the site and don’t leave anything valuable unattended in your tents. Register any valuable items on the Immobilise database before you leave for home so that if anything is lost or stolen police have a better chance of reuniting you with your items if they are recovered.
While out watching your favourite bands make sure you have your phone and wallet secured tightly away. Experience shows that it’s in big crowds and ‘mosh pits’ close to stages that the thieves are more likely to target you.
Personal safety and illegal substances: No matter what myths you may have heard about police having a policy at Glastonbury of allowing people to smoke cannabis or take small amounts of other drugs, it is not true. Police have a zero tolerance policy to illegal substances and will be relentless in combating drug-related crime.
The law at Glastonbury is exactly the same as any other city, town or street in the rest of the United Kingdom when it comes to possession and use of an illegal substance. If you are found to be in possession of drugs at the festival you face arrest and prosecution as well as eviction from the site.
Contacting police at the Festival: Finally, if at the festival you do need to contact officers, the best thing to do is visit the 24-hour police station on site at the Festival. This is situated to the north of the festival site along with the other emergency services.
If you need to contact police in an emergency however always call 999.
Officers will be patrolling the site throughout the festival offering a reassuring and highly visible presence and are more than happy to chat to festival goers about their concerns. Officers will be loaded with crime prevention freebies to give away to festival-goers throughout the event.
To receive updates from the police during the festival on anything from traffic problems to beat surgeries then register for text alerts by texting ‘GLASTO’ to 81003. Everyone who registers for alerts will be entered into a prize draw to win a Sony PSP (full terms and conditions available on the police’s Glastonbury microsite – www.glastonburypolice.org).
To register on the Immobilise Database follow these instructions:
Key *#06# on your phone’s keypad to view your IMEI number.
Register by text: Then text REG followed by your IMEI number to 83010 – and Immobilise will reply with your account details and instructions. You will be charged a one-off 25p charge for the return text message.
Alternatively; register online: Visit www.immobilise.com and register for free.
To read the source article in full please go to: http://www.glastonburypolice.org/news/Details.aspx?nsid=20720#nsu-1
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Posted by: Neil Stewart in Bikes, CheckMEND, CheckMEND USA, Crime, Immobilise, Immobitag, Lost Property, Mobile Phones, NMPR, Police, Recipero, ReportMyLoss
Recipero’s CheckMEND service in conjunction with the Police’s NMPR system has proven to be a key tool in the identification and prosecution of crimes related to stolen goods.
On the 14th May, a man was sentenced to 18 months in prison for handling stolen goods. Alexander Smith, aged 40, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court after a two year investigation conducted by Avon and Somerset Police’s burglary team and crime reduction unit in Bristol.
Officers were able to prove that Smith had been knowingly buying stolen mobile phones by utilising an online system known as CheckMEND. This system allows members of the public to check if a mobile phone is stolen before buying it.
Police searched a shop in East Street, Bedminster and identified more than 20 phones that were stolen from victims in both burglaries and robberies, many of which had occurred in the South Bristol area. A stolen pedal cycle was also found at Smith’s home address.
During one of these incidents, a female victim positively identified her stolen phone in Smith’s shop. Smith then demanded £40 from the victim before he would return her phone.
PC Frank Simonds, from Bristol Crime Reduction Unit, said:
The use of CheckMEND technology now allows the police to prove if stolen phones are being bought and sold by second hand retailers.
We will be relentless in our pursuit of those dealing in stolen goods.
Many phones that were proven to be stolen had been registered by owners on the Immobilise database. Registering phones enables the police to return them to their rightful owners.
Members of the public can register their phone for free by visiting www.immobilise.com
Members of the public can check if a mobile phone is stolen by visiting www.checkmend.com.
Retailers can receive advice on protecting their business from handling stolen goods as part of Operation Recover run by Avon and Somerset Police.
To read the source release in full please go to: Avon & Somerset Police
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Merseyside Police Community Support & Traffic Officers (PCS&TO’s) Derek Johnston and Natalie O’Neill were manning a police pod at Maghull Central Square last month, giving shoppers the opportunity to register their mobile phones with the National Property Register called Immobilise.
Natalie O’Neill said:
This means that if your phone is lost or stolen it will be easily identifiable and can be returned to its rightful owner.
Derek Johnston said that the day had proven well worthwhile:
We were getting roughly 20 people an hour visiting the pod to register their mobile phones. In fact, the event went so well that we have decided to organise an other Immobilise event in the Melling area in a few weeks time.
Merseyside Police are urging people to make their mobile phones less attractive to would-be thieves by immobilising them.
Merseyside Police has adopted the Immobilise system – a property-registering scheme that aims to make life as difficult as possible for thieves. The aim of the scheme is to encourage members of the public to register their mobiles on the National Mobile Database.
As part of a crime prevention initiative, PCSOs from Maghull are encouraging people to bring along their mobile telephones to Maghull Police Station for registering.
To read the source story in full please go to: Merseyside Police
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 Thames Valley Police are continuing to encourage residents to protect their property and register valuables on Immobilise.com, the UK National Property Register.
The website is a free database, which is used by all police forces across the UK to help them return stolen property to rightful owners.
Register your personal property at www.immobilise.com so that, if your valuables get lost or stolen and police recover it, you’ll get it back. It could also help police officers to get the burglar or robber convicted.
It takes a few minutes to complete the registration, allowing you to create a free, private and secure portfolio of all your personal property.
Inspector Sean Hodgson, Force Crime Reduction Manager, said:
We are continuing to urge residents to register their property, it only takes a few minutes to register and if your property is stolen and recovered there is a greater chance of it being returned.
Becoming a victim of crime is an incredibly upsetting experience for people, especially if personal possessions such as cameras or mobile phones are stolen with irreplaceable photos of loved ones and phone numbers of family and friends.
We are asking residents to help us and help themselves by registering all their valuables on the Immobilise database. People can register any item with a serial number.
Police officers may then be able to return any items they find to their rightful owner. It may also enable officers to secure a successful prosecution.
Thames Valley Police is currently running an initiative specifically tackling burglary, called Operation Breaker. This Forcewide campaign received a £143,000 funding boost from the Home Office on 28 December as the national ‘Operation Vigilance campaign gets underway. Operation Vigilance aims to tackle and prevent burglary and personal robbery.
To visit the Thames Valley Police website please go to: www.thamesvalley.police.uk
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IMPORTANT MESSAGE: PLEASE NOTE THAT AS DATA FROM TRACE IS CURRENTLY BEING INTEGRATED WITH OUR SYSTEMS WE RECOMMEND USERS ALSO RUN A FREE SEARCH ON TRACE (www.trace.com) WHILST THE WORK IS COMPLETED.
CheckMEND the world’s largest due diligence service which is owned by Recipero is delighted to announce the recent acquisitions of two US centric businesses, the Trace due diligence system and PhoneHistoryReport the stolen phone checking service. The data from both businesses will be incorporated into the CheckMEND service over the next few weeks.
Both services will complement the existing CheckMEND service providing millions of new records to the CheckMEND website. Of particular note is that the acquisition of Trace will allow CheckMEND to access stolen property data from over 18,000 US law enforcement agencies vastly expanding their reach in the US market. Adrian Portlock CEO of Recipero commented:
These two acquisitions are strategically very important to us as we look to replicate the huge success of CheckMEND in the UK and Europe in the USA. We are already talking to a range of organisations who wish to use the new enhanced CheckMEND service in the US and we are very excited about the potential opportunities this provides to the US consumer buying and selling on sites such as EBay and Craig’s List.
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Were you lucky enough to receive a new mobile phone, MP3 player, Sat Nav, bike or other valuables this Christmas? If so, Merseyside Police is urging you to make them less attractive to would be thieves by immobilising them.
Merseyside Police have adopted the Immobilise system – a property registering scheme which aims to make life as difficult as possible for thieves. The aim of the scheme is to encourage members of the public to register with the Immobilise website (www.immobilise.com), a simple process which takes just a few minutes.
The website allows users to register their personal possessions on a secure database free of charge. If any lost or stolen items are recovered by police, officers can retrieve the owner’s details from the website. They can be returned to the owner with, in the case of theft, a better prospect of a successful prosecution.
The Immobilise website is linked to the National Mobile Property Register, a national police database of registered property ownership and stolen property records.
Chief Inspector Stuart Ellison comments:
Being a victim of crime is awful at anytime, but the impact can often be greater at Christmas, particularly if gifts are stolen. Registering items on the site only takes a few minutes and it may help you become reunited with your property if it is stolen or lost.
The NMPR is searched thousands of times a day by forces across the UK and it is used routinely by Merseyside Police.
Merseyside Police advise taking the following precautions with items such as mobile phones and MP3 players:
- Be aware of your surroundings, and conceal items if you feel uneasy.
- Never leave your property unattended, keep it on you, not near you.
- Be particularly vigilant whilst travelling home from school or college and when leaving railway stations or other public transport locations.
- Finally, register your property for free at www.immobilise.com
Basically, you can register anything with a serial number – simply log onto www.immobilise.com. Then if any item of registered property is stolen, report it to the Police and, in the case of a mobile phone, for example, give police your IMEI number, inform your service provider and tell them to block both the SIM and handset. You should then update your online Immobilise account.
To read the Merseyside Police news article in full please go to: www.merseyside.police.uk
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Adding to the great support that the Immobilise Property Register receives though out the country, Bath MP Don Foster is calling on the local police to back the immobilise.com website.
Immobilise is the world’s largest free register of possession ownership details and together with its sister sites the Police’s NMPR (www.thenmpr.com) and CheckMEND (www.checkmend.com), forms a very effective tool in helping to reduce crime and repatriate recovered personal property to its rightful owners.
In Bristol the Avon and Somerset Police have held a stall for those who are unable to use the website itself, allowing residents to register their goods. All items with some form of identification, for instance a part number or serial number, can be registered on the website.
According to his website (www.donfoster.co.uk) Don Foster has asked Bath police to consider holding a street stall in early January to enable Christmas gifts to be registered.
Don Foster said;
When I heard about this website I immediately thought about bike post coding. It is great if stolen property can be re-united with the owner, and by registering your goods at immobilise.com you increase the chances of having goods returned to you.
I hope our local police will help to promote this scheme and also consider holding a street stall for those not able to sign up on-line.
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 Police in Avon and Somerset yesterday (Thursday December 17) held their latest “Relentless” day, focussing on the prevention of theft and burglary.
There have been 26 Operation Relentless “days of action” since its launch in June 2005, which has resulted in more than 2150 arrests.
“Operation Relentless on Property” has targeted thieves and those who handle stolen goods in addition to highlighting crime prevention initiatives to the public to foil burglars and other criminals.
As part of the day of action, police and partner agencies engaged in a range of activities across Somerset. A warrant was carried out in the Taunton area leading to the arrest of a man for handling stolen goods. Vulnerable Vehicle Checks were carried out across the area, inspecting vehicles and identifying those with items of value left on display. The owners of the cars have been sent a letter reminding them to keep items such as phones, MP3s and Satellite Navigation Systems out of sight.
Officers also visited several second hand goods retailers with Trading Standards to ensure that they were complying with regulations and not trading in stolen items. Six arrests were made during the course of the morning. Five men were arrested for theft and another man was arrested for handling stolen goods. Four have been given bail pending further enquiries.
Officers from the district’s CID department also managed to reunite 250 items of detained property with their rightful owners this week.
Detective Inspector Alan West said:
When police receive items of property that have been recovered from thefts and burglaries, officers try to trace the owners of the items to return their possessions to them. If electrical items are registered on Immobilise and other items such as jewellery or antiques are property marked with the owners address or postcode, this process can be straightforward.
However, unmarked or unregistered items can languish in the Detained Property Department unclaimed for long periods and some items can never be linked to an owner. I would really encourage the public to either register their items on Immobilise or mark them with a UV pen or other property marking device so we can return them to you if the worst were to happen. Marking your items can also sometimes act as a deterrent to would be criminals.
Neighbourhood officers and PCSOs were also in Taunton town centre this morning registering people’s property, such as mobile phones, cameras and mp3 players, on the Immobilise website and carrying out bike and property marking. The Deputy Chief Constable, Rob Beckley, joined them in giving festive advice on how to beat the burglars and assisted with a bicycle property marking session. The team will be in the town centre again on January 13 and 21 offering these services for those who had new bikes or electronic equipment for Christmas.
In Bridgwater, officers held a property marking session at Bridgwater College for the students to register mobile phones and laptops on the Immobilise website and officers from Burnham-on-Sea visited King Alfred School in Highbridge and Kings of Wessex School in Cheddar to take property marking kits to mark and record mobile phones and MP3 players. Other property marking sessions also took place in Wellington Square in Minehead and the Town Hall in Dulverton.
DCC Beckley said:
We really want people to have a wonderful Christmas and New Year but we ask them to take some sensible measures to ensure that their festive period isn’t marred by becoming a victim of opportunistic thieves. One-in-four burglaries occur after the householder failed to secure their home and the burglar entered the property via an open door or window!
I encourage people to think about how their house looks when they go out – don’t make it obvious that there is nobody home, leave a light on and the radio playing and most importantly – make sure you lock all doors and windows, even if you are only popping out for a short period of time.
Inspector Nick Greenhalgh from the Community Safety team at Taunton Police Station said people can help protect themselves from opportunistic thieves by employing these simple measures:
- Ensure windows and doors are shut and locked when you are out
- Lock sheds and garages
- Don’t leave car keys left in an outside porch or within reach of letter boxes
- Shoppers are advised not to leave presents in view on car seats. They should be taken home immediately and not left in the vehicle.
- Christmas presents – wrapped or unwrapped – should not be left in view in the home.
- Don’t leave boxes from new TVs or laptops on display outside your home, take them to the tip.
- Register your property on www.immobilise.com
- Mark your property – kits are available from your local police teams.
Further information regarding home security and crime prevention can be obtained from your local Safer Stronger Neighbourhood team. You can contact them by calling 0845 456 7000 or you can log on to our website www.avonandsomerset.police.uk and select the Crime Prevention heading.
To read the source article in full please go to: www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/LocalPages/NewsDetails.aspx?nsid=18923&t=1&lid=5
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 Police in Bristol are giving Christmas shoppers the gift of burglary prevention as part of the forcewide Operation Relentless day.
Officers in the new “cop shop” at The Mall Bristol, in Broadmead, are inviting shoppers to stop by and have their Christmas purchases registered on a national property database, called Immobilise.
Keith Rundle, Neighbourhood Inspector for Cabot and Clifton, said:
At this time of year people are thinking about getting the last bit of Christmas shopping done and all other things festive. But if someone was to break into your home and steal all those presents Christmas would be ruined and you would be very out of pocket.
Items that can be traced and identified are harder to sell and far less attractive to thieves, so registering on Immobilise can be a deterrent, and if the worst did happen it may help us to reunite property with its rightful owner – if recovered.
We want people to take steps to stop themselves becoming victims of burglary. Visiting our officers in The Mall Bristol or at Curry’s in Channon’s Hill and registering on Immobilise is a good start.
There are also all sorts of additional tips and advice we can give to you on other ways to make your home, and everything in it, more secure – so come and see us.
Immobilise is easy to use and completely free. It is the only national property database that will throw up results through Avon and Somerset Police’s standard checks on recovered stolen property if the items have been registered.
It is also a deterrent to thieves because items that can be traced and identified are harder to sell and can be less attractive to thieves.
To use Immobilise anyone can visit the website www.immobilise.com and open an account and put details and serial numbers of items like laptops, cameras, mobile phones and bikes into the account.
If the items are ever stolen the account holder logs on and marks them as stolen. They will then be flagged up on the national database as stolen when checked by retailers or police forces.
To read the source article please go to: Bristol Police
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