Category Archives: ImmobiTag

Bicycles, Crime, Immobilise, ImmobiTag, NMPR, Police

Durham Police launch cycle theft campaign

DurhamInfinity4Durham Police have launched  ‘Operation Spoke’ a initiative aimed at reducing bicycle theft across County Durham & Darlington.

As part of Operation Spoke Durham Constabulary will be working closely with local cycle retailers,  Immobilise.com and other organisations to introduce a bicycle marking scheme to property mark and register bicycles in County Durham and Darlington.

The aim of the scheme is that every new cycle sold will be marked and registered to their new owner. Current bicycle owners can also attend their local cycle retailers, police stations and other cycle marking events to have their cycle(s) marked and registered under the scheme.

Crime Prevention Officer PC David Williamson said:

This really is a fantastic opportunity for anyone wishing to protect their bicycle, a simple yet highly effective method of preventing a bicycle from being taken and it takes only a few minutes.

All customers who sign up to the scheme will be asked to complete a registration document, details provided will then be put onto a database so that Police can check the identity of cycles to identify them and to target bicycle thieves.

The officer launching the initiative, Det Supt Kevin Weir said:

The key benefit of the scheme is that should a bicycle be stolen it will be easy to identify by police. This means a stolen bicycle will be easy to return to a rightful owner.

I am also hopeful that the introduction of this scheme will be a deterrent to bicycle thieves. The message I want to send out is simple; if you are buying a new bicycle for Christmas this year or indeed into 2014, please register it with your retailer as part of Operation Spoke. Our aim is to get as many bikes as possible registered under the scheme, reducing the opportunity for bicycle theft across our force area.

People are asked to contact their local neighbourhood policing team, police station or cycle retailer for further information about the scheme.

To view the source story please go to: www.durham.police.uk

Bicycles, Crime, Immobilise, ImmobiTag, Mobile Phones, NMPR, Police, Report My Loss

To Protect it Register it is the Christmas message from Police in Lancashire

Immobilise Preston PosterIn the run up to Christmas, Preston Police are encouraging members of the public to register their new xbox games console or PS4 on the national property register via www.immobilse.com, as soon as they’ve purchased them.

Approximately 340 games consoles have been stolen as part of thefts, robberies and burglaries in the last 12 months, across the whole of Lancashire. Very few are recovered as victims are unable to distinguish their property with serial numbers or unique markers.

PCSO Stephen Connolly says:

People are starting their Christmas shopping and games such as xboxes and the new ps4 will be very popular. The consoles are highly desirable to thieves as they are lightweight, portable and easy to sell on. Registering the items on www.immobilise.com improves your chances of getting it back if it is lost or stolen.

www.immobilise.com can be used by members of the public and businesses to register their valued possessions or company assets and is used by all UK Police forces to trace owners of lost and stolen property.

Preston City Neighbourhood Teams are working with all city centre retailers stocking the consoles, who will be distributing literature upon purchase as well as displaying ‘To Protect It, Register It’ posters.

For more information and to view the source story please go to: http://www.lancashire.police.uk/news/to-protect-it-register-it

Bicycles, Crime, Immobilise, ImmobiTag, Lost Property, Mobile Phones, NMPR, Police, Report My Loss

York residents invited to register valuables on national Immobilise database

PCSOs Rachel Shaw and Tony Barge show Tracey Simpson-Laing how they use the new scanning equipment. (Source: York Press)

The York Press has reported that residents worried about their property being stolen are being invited to register their items on the Immobilise National Property Register to make it easier to return stolen goods to their owners.

City of York Council is urging people to register their property free of charge using new technology invested in by North Yorkshire Police and the Safer York Partnership during the week-long national campaign. The authority teamed up with police to provide £36,000 to fund the Hermes and Apollo kits.

Hermes allows the police and other organisations to upload details of property by recording identifying features, size or serial numbers, which can be retrieved from the Immobilise National Property Register that the police are able to access securely via the PNC and numerous other interfaces.

Apollo is a hand-held scanner which the police and PCSOs can use to scan an item, store its data on the National Mobile Property Register and retrieve the information when suspected stolen goods come to light.

The eleven sessions for the public are being held so people can either have small items such as smartphones or laptops registered, or can bring details – including photographs – of valuable furniture or serial numbers of bikes, for example.

Coun Linsay Cunningham-Cross, cabinet member for crime, said:

Safer York Partnership is keen to use innovative technology to deliver more effective and efficient responses to tackling crime.

By taking a few minutes to register their property on Hermes and Apollo and pick up security advice, residents can not only help prevent their belongings being stolen in the first place, but can be assured that if something is stolen, they are more likely to get it back.

Supt Phil Cain said:

Often the police recover items during searches or by other means, and it’s not always clear if those goods are stolen.

By using the Immobilise register, they can find out instantly. This not only saves officer time, but helps progress investigations and means the rightful owner gets their belongings back.

The sessions will take place at the council’s West Offices, in Station Rise, on the 19th and 20th November, between 9am and 3pm.

There are also sessions at York Explore library, in Library Square, on Friday 21st from 1pm to 5pm, and on Sunday 23rd from 11.30am to 2.30pm.

There will also be sessions at York University Library from today until Friday, 9am to 3pm, or at York Art Gallery, on Saturday and Sunday, from 9am to 3pm.

To view the source article please go to: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/

Bicycles, Crime, Immobilise, ImmobiTag, Lost Property, Police

Police to reunite owners with lost and stolen bikes in Gloucester

bike-theft-415The Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard have reported that Police officers are hoping to get cyclists back on their bikes by reuniting owners with lost and stolen bicycles.

It is an opportunity for anyone who has had their bike stolen recently to come and view the ones that have been recovered at the Police station on Lansdown Road, Gloucester this Saturday, July 13 between 9am and 2pm.

Police Community Support Officer Kim Graham who organised the event said:

We run these viewings on a regular basis and often have some really good results. It is worth popping along as there is a chance you could get your stolen bicycle back.

Anyone wanting to attend must bring their crime letter with them. All those who have reported their bike stolen will have received a letter with a unique crime number on it. Officers will be offering security marking and crime prevention advice as well as encouraging cyclists to register their bikes on immobilise.

We’re also encouraging other cyclists to come along to the station with their bike and we’ll mark it for them and help show them how to register it – this will make it a lot easier for us to return it to you if it does get lots or is stolen

added PCSO Graham.

At www.immobilise.com you can create a free, private and secure portfolio of all of your personal property and adds the items to the National Mobile Property Register (NMPR).

If the bike, or registered item, is then lost or stolen the website can be used to tell the police, your insurer and the second-hand trade to assist in recovering your property and catch the thief.

For further information on NMPR or other crime reduction advice please visit the constabulary website at www.gloucestershire.police.uk and go to the Crime Reduction pages.

To read the source article go to: Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard

CheckMEND, ClaimsCheck, Immobilise, ImmobiTag, NMPR, Police, Recipero, Report My Loss

Recipero recieves the prestigeous Secured by Design award

Secured by DesignRecipero is pleased to announce that it recently received the highly regarded Secured by Design (SBD) Award for its services and products, including the Immobilise National Property Register service & products, plus linked services including the Police NMPR service, CheckMEND and Report My Loss, all of which are aimed a helping identify, investigate and deter crime and associated criminality.

The Secured by Design Award is the culmination of many months of work that also saw Recipero become both ISO9001 (Quality Management) and ISO27001 (Information Security Management) certified.

Secured by Design is the initiative from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) that aims to reduce crime and calls for the use of services or installation of security solutions that meet police-approved standards. Businesses whose services and/or products have been certified by an accredited testing body to the specified standards, can apply for SBD membership and licence to utilise the scheme’s logo.

The SBD logo is the only symbol that guarantees national Police approval of a product or service, providing customers with reassurance that the solution provides a proven level of resistance to criminal attack.

Utilising SBD-accredited services and security products is a quick and simple way to ensure compliance with new guidelines. Consumers and specifiers are also recognising that SBD provides an easy route to help identify which of the many technical standards indicates a service or product is an effective crime prevention measure.

Neil Stewart, Recipero’s Commercial Director said:

Gaining SBD approval for our services is a significant achievement, and demonstrates Recipero’s commitment to data security and product quality. It also serves to provide Recipero’s valued customers with reassurance that we continue to meet the high standards we have reputation for delivering.

For more information please see:
Secured by Design: http://www.securedbydesign.com

Details of ISO 9001:
http://www.british-assessment.co.uk/services/iso-certification/iso-9001-certification/

Details of ISO 27001:
http://www.british-assessment.co.uk/services/iso-certification/iso-27001-certification/

ACPO: http://www.acpo.police.uk/

Bicycles, CheckMEND, Crime, Immobilise, ImmobiTag, Mobile Phones, NMPR, Police, Report My Loss

West Midlands Police sign up to Code of Practice to stop sale of stolen goods

West Midlands Police are one of the first forces in the country to fully embrace a new code of practice aimed at slamming the door in the face of thieves trying to sell stolen goods.

A Home Office Code of Practice encourages forces to get second hand stores signed up to a scheme where they check all items offered up for sale against the CheckMEND database which logs if goods have been recorded as lost or stolen.

The force have hundreds of stores such as Cash Converters, Cash Generator, Cex and other independent second hand stores signed up to the scheme and are launching it in style on 23 January with an Impact Activation Day.

On the day officers across the force will be at second hand stores, schools and shopping centres registering goods onto the immobilise database for free.

Each of the stores who have signed up check items offered for sale against the CheckMEND site. Each search generates a unique certificate number. This can be issued to a potential buyer to prove that at the time of purchase the item was not reported lost or stolen and no adverse information was recorded against it.

David Bursey from Byte size Solutions in Kings Heath, Birmingham said:

Now we can use CheckMEND we can buy items from people who come in off the street. We have been dubious about doing that in the past because we have not been able to trace the history of the item. This has opened up new possibilities in how we can conduct our business that is of real benefit to us and our customers.

DC Vanessa Lewis from Force CID who is heading up the project to get all West Midlands second hand stores signed up said:

Our officers have been passionate about getting stores signed up as one of the main ways we can stop the sale of stolen goods and ultimately deter burglars and thieves.

The more the public register their goods on immobilise, the more effective the system will be.

A YouTube video explaining how the system works is available below or at this link: http://youtu.be/LNx-5eoaXGA

For details of where officers will be across the force area on 23 January please read the full article available in this linked PDF: Full West Midlands Police Article

 

Bicycles, Crime, Immobilise, ImmobiTag, Police, Report My Loss

Sheffield Police recommend Immobilise as cycle thefts continue to soar

Cycle theft in Sheffield is a growing problem according to recent report in the Star. It was reported that only 41 of the 1,595 bicycles stolen from Sheffield city centre in the last 10 years have ever been recovered by police. The number of bike thefts in the city has soared in the last decade, particularly around the railway station and the universities.

With the average stolen bike costing just under £400, that means cyclists in Sheffield have been saddled with a bill of £638,000.

Sgt Darren Nugent, from South Yorkshire Police’s city centre safer neighbourhood team, said:

Over the last couple of years bike theft has gone up and up.

We have caught two or three thieves who were out stealing bikes all the time, and taking those few out of the equation has definitely curbed bike theft.

Officers also have another weapon in their armoury – the tracker bike. The GPS-enabled bikes are locked at theft hotspots and left unguarded to tempt thieves. If stolen, the device alerts police by text and officers use Google Earth to pinpoint its location.

Sgt Nugent advised cyclists to spend at least 10 per cent of their bike’s value on a lock and said two locks were always better than one. He also urged bikers to register their property at Immobilise – the UK national property register.

The Immobilise Property Register is linked directly to Police systems helping to quickly identify the rightful owner of recovered property, for more information go to www.immobilise.com/about

To read the source article please go to: www.thestar.co.uk

 

Bicycles, Crime, Immobilise, ImmobiTag, Lost Property, NMPR, Police

Bristol Police recommend registering bikes on Immobilise

Following string of bike thefts and a successful operation to catch the thieves responsible Bristol police have made several suggestions on how to avoid becoming a victime of bicycle related crime.

Police are urging people to always secure their bikes and to take with them any objects that can be removed.

Their advice includes:

  • Invest in quality locks. For a decent lock expect to spend a minimum of £40 or approximately 20% of the value of your bike;
  • Register your bike for free by visiting national property database Immobilise (www.immobilise.com). If the worst happens and your bike is stolen police can use the database to reunite you with your property;
  • Always lock your bike to an immovable object and don’t just lock the frame to the wheel;
  • Don’t lock your bike in the same place on a regular basis. It could be stolen to order;
  • Always use two different locks.

For more details please see the source article at: http://www.bristol247.com/

Bicycles, Crime, Immobilise, ImmobiTag, Lost Property, Police, Report My Loss, Students

Oxford police in plea to register bicycles

The BBC has reported that Police in Oxford are urging residents to register their bikes so they can be traced if they are stolen.

According to the BBC between June and August, 837 bikes were taken in the city – a rise of 141 compared to the same period in 2010.

Sgt Matt Sulley from Oxford police station said bike theft was a huge problem and returning cycles to their owners was the biggest issue.

He said if cycles are registered at immobilise.com police can easily identify the original owners.

In Oxford, Thames Valley Police are currently holding hundreds of bikes.

Sgt Sulley said the large number of cycles in Oxford made thefts a particular problem.

He said that also the large portion of old-style houses in the city meant it was difficult for people to access gardens and sheds to properly secure their bikes.

He added:

There are also criminals making a business out of it. Lots of bikes are being stolen and then stripped for parts which makes them very difficult to trace.

We have also seen a number of very expensive bikes, worth thousands of pounds, locked up with cheap locks.

Between 5 and 25 September 2011 neighbourhood policing teams will be at key locations in Oxford advising people about ways to protect their property.

To read the source BBC story please visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-14760978

To visit Thames Valley Police go to: http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/

Bicycles, Crime, Immobilise, ImmobiTag, Lost Property, NMPR, Police

Police say don’t give cycle thieves easy ride – register on immobilise

York police are urging residents to ‘spoke up’ against cycle thieves.

Officers launched Operation Spoke in January 2010 as a deterrent to combat cycle theft and as a quick and easy way to reunite stolen bikes with their rightful owners.

Since the initiative began, almost 10,000 bikes have been security marked and registered with North Yorkshire Police and the national property register, Immobilise.

All cycle owners are being urged to sign up to the scheme, so that police can identify who stolen bikes belong to when they are recovered.

Officers are currently tying to trace the owners of a cycle which was targeted last month – who could have been easily traced if they had taken advantage of the free security marking offered by Operation Spoke.

At around 8pm on Friday 3 June 2011, police recovered a bike at the cycle racks near the Minster after someone had made an attempt to steal it.

The bike is in police possession but as yet the owner is unknown and police are urging anyone who believes it belongs to them to come forward.

If this is your bike contact North Yorkshire Police on 0845 60 60 24 7, quoting reference number 12110090973.

Officers are also trying to trace the owner of a black or grey Cannondale Bad Boy hybrid cycle which was stolen from the cycle racks on Tanner’s Moat, outside The Maltings at around 1.40pm on Tuesday 28 June 2011.

A 17-year-old youth was arrested in connection with the theft, however officers need the owner of the bike to come forward and report it stolen.

If you believe this was your cycle, contact North Yorkshire Police on 0845 60 60 24 7, quoting reference number 12110106413.

PC Fiona Wilding of York police, said:

Cycles are often a target for thieves and it is important that people take action to protect their property.

It is advisable to buy a good quality bike lock and if possible use two different styles of lock, as thieves are rarely equipped to break both.

Everyone should also consider having their bike ‘spoked’ to make it easier for the police to catch offenders and return your bike if it stolen.

Security tagging involves having a unique mark placed on the frame of your bike which can then be matched to key details stored on the police database such as make, model and frame number.

The process is simple, quick and free and can be done at the Bike Rescue Project under Lendal Bridge or at regular Operation Spoke events held throughout the city.

To view the source story go to: York Police