Tag Archives: Crime

Guardian – UK Police get quicker stolen mobile phone check

The Guardian News paper has reported that Police officers have been given a faster method of checking whether a mobile phone has been stolen, with a new link between the National Mobile PropertyRegister (NMPR) and the Police National Computer (PNC).

The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) has integrated the NMPR into the PNC. This will make it possible for officers on the beat to access the NMPR directly through their handheld devices.

Detective chief superintendent Mick McNally of the Metropolitan Police Territorial Policing Command said:

For the first time frontline officers can now obtain instantaneous results of searches on suspected stolen mobile phones.

The figures of 50,000 plus stolen phones a year being located and identified throughout the UK will further increase with this new Police National Computer facility. It sends a clear message to phone thieves that police and partners can identify stolen mobile phones in the hands of the thief or another individual.

The NPIA developed the integration with the help of Recipero the providers of the NMPR and Immobilise services which specialise in online compliance and due diligence software.

To read the source article please go to: Guardian News paper

To visit the NMPR (police) go to: http://thenmpr.com

To visit Immobilise (public) go to: www.immobilise.com

For more information about Recipero please go to: www.recipero.com

Recipero awarded Secure Communities Network accreditation by the NPIA

Recipero is delighted to announce it has been awarded Secure Communities Network accreditation by the National Police Improvement Authority.

This accreditation demonstrates that Recipero’s NMPR application and its connection to PNC meets the rigorous security standards required of Secure Communities Network members. Accreditation has been achieved after months of auditing and testing of Recipero’s systems by independent security advisors appointed by the NPIA. This connection also enables a secure email path to recipero.scn.gov.uk through which Police and Government agencies may exchange classified information with Recipero.

Adrian Portlock CEO of Recipero said:

“this is a major milestone for Recipero and shows our commitment to the security and integrity of our services. I think it is fair to say that this sort of Accreditation is normally only achieved by the larger organisations in this market so as a niche provider we are very proud of this achievement.”

For more information please contact us.

Registered mobile phone recovered by police

South Yorkshire Police have recovered a stolen mobile phone after it was registered on the national UK database, Immobilise.

The phone was flagged up as stolen after it was attempted to be sold to an Internet mobile company.

The police were informed and received the details of the seller, who was identified as a woman from Dunsville. She was interviewed by police and admitted to finding the phone in the area that it was reported as being stolen. She received a caution, as this was her first offence. The phone was recovered and handed back to the owner.

Police are hoping this result will encourage more people to register their belongings with Immobilise. It is the UK’s national property register, which allows people to create secure and private portfolios online for their personal property.

It is not just phones that can be registered any belongings that have a serial number including electrical items such as televisions and cameras can all be registered.

Chief Inspector Neil Thomas said:

We hope this result will encourage more people to register their belongings on the Immobilise database. We work with local businesses that are able to check if any items have been stolen if they are registered on Immobilise, making it harder for opportunistic thieves to sell stolen property. I would encourage everybody to register their property as soon as possible.

To make it easier for people to register their property, South Yorkshire Police have launched a campaign ‘If you love it, log it’ to find out more about the campaign and to register your property for FREE visit www.southyorks.police.uk

To read the source article please go to: http://southyorks.police.uk/news/30032011/5165/registered-mobile-phone-recovered-police

Students reminded to secure their homes – Lock It, Hide It, Keep It

South Wales Police have warned that more than 50 per cent of recent student burglaries in Cardiff have been at insecure properties.

Local officers are now offering to register student valuables on free online property database www. immobilise .com as part of the on-going Lock It, Hide It, Keep It Campaign.

The registering initiative was launched this month by student liaison officer PC Tim Davies who visited Cardiff University Students Union on Tuesday, March 1 with a crime prevention and information stand.

Pc Davies said:

The latest Home Office figures show that overall burglary in Cardiff is down 3.1 per cent but Roath and Cathays, both densely populated by students in shared properties, tend to have higher rates of burglary than other areas of the city.

Unfortunately student homes provide rich pickings for criminals who know that most students will have valuables such as laptops, games consoles and IPods that can be easily carried and sold on.

Since Christmas there have been 40 burglaries at student properties in Cardiff and 21 have at insecure properties.

This means doors and windows have been left open which is perfect for burglars as they don’t need to smash glass, risk making a noise and being disturbed, and possibly leave their DNA.

The good news is that this is something students can easily address.
Students are urged to register items such as laptops, IPods and bikes on www. immobilise .com as this means the real owners can be contacted if found.

Stolen items are usually sold or passed on in the Cardiff area.

We find hundreds of bikes every year but they have to be auctioned because we never know who they belong to,” said Pc Davies.

If owners had registered them on Immobilise then they could be easily returned.

I will be in the students union on the first Tuesday of every month with my laptop and would encourage all students to call into see me for this free service and extra crime prevention advice.

To read the source article please go to: http://www.south-wales.police.uk/

If you love it, log it! South Yorkshire police promote immobilise

South Yorkshire Police are advising people: ‘If you love it, log it’.

In a countywide crackdown on theft and burglary, police are urging people to log their expensive Christmas presents and any other precious belongings on immobilise.com – the world’s largest FREE register of ownership details.

In a time when police resources are getting ever more stretched, the police are looking to focus their efforts on crime prevention, with this campaign aimed at preventing thefts happening in the first place – a more efficient way of protecting the public.

And in addition to acting as a major deterrent to criminals, the big difference with Immobilise is that as well as getting your stuff back if it’s lost or stolen, the system helps to catch the thieves as well!

The database is linked directly to police systems, so when officers recover any property, for whatever reason, they can check it against items logged on Immobilise. For example, if someone arrested on suspicion of drunk and disorderly has your stolen mobile phone in their pocket, police will also be able to link the theft to them as well – but only if it’s registered!

Any item can be registered on immobilise. The easiest items to log are electricals, or anything that has a serial number, but you can even log jewellery or ornamental items using the photo upload and description functions. You can register as many items as you like, and then if they are lost or stolen you simply log back on to register them as such. The police can check any property they recover, whether that’s when a person is brought into custody for any reason, property recovered from criminals in raids, or even during one of their now routine checks on second-hand dealers. And if they find anything that is listed as stolen, not only will you get your belongings back, but the thieves can be brought to justice.

Chief Superintendent Bill Hotchkiss said:

Part of policing involves stopping crime happening in the first place. The public can play a huge part in this by protecting their property with Immobilise, making items easier to identify and less attractive to thieves.

We want to send a clear message to those potential thieves that anything logged on Immobilise is too hot to handle. As a member of the South Yorkshire public, by registering your property, and marking it as such, you are much less likely to become a victim of crime.

To support the campaign, police are distributing packs to the public to make the process even easier. These include a selection of stickers to mark all your items as logged, so as to deter criminals, and an information leaflet to explain the process. The packs are available from your local police stations in South Yorkshire or from South Yorkshire branches of Curries, Dixons and PC World. In addition, safer neighbourhood team officers will be out and about in public places offering packs and advice to members of the public.

Visit www.immobilise.com to get started.

More details can be found at www.southyorks.police.uk

Avon & Somerset Police launch unusual crime awareness campaign

Avon & Somerset Police have launched an unusual crime awareness & immobilise registration campaign for Christmas. Reported by the Bristol Evening Post, shoppers can learn how to stay safe this Christmas with the help of a mocked up crime scene.

Avon and Somerset Police have transformed an empty shop unit in The Mall Bristol, Broadmead, into a rather unusual information centre.

Experts from Bike UK, the Safer Bristol Partnership and the police will be on hand to advise members of the public on all safety issues, from bike locks and seasonal burglary to late night transport and drink and drug awareness.

One of two large window displays will contain a crime scene for members of the public to investigate. The other will be have a bike security theme. Police will be urging shoppers to register presents like laptops and bikes on the national property database, Immobilise.

The database is used by police to trace the owners of suspected stolen property.

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.

There will also be the chance to win a Saracen mountain bike, free T-Shirt printing with the police’s Streetwise team after school on December 9 and 16, and balloons to fingerprint and take home.

PCSO Warren Vincent-Rodgers from the Broadmead and Cabot Circus police team came up with the idea for the shop.

He said:

We tested the shop in The Mall last year with great success, speaking to more than 1,000 Bristol residents about all sorts of security and safety issues.

You can’t really have a more striking window display than a crime scene, and with so many TV programmes getting children and adults interested in this area of work, it’s a fantastic opportunity to see at first hand the techniques CSIs use to find clues and help solve cases.

Everyone is invited to note down their theory of what happened and will be entered into a prize draw.

It should make a welcome distraction from Christmas shopping.

The shop will open Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm, on Thursdays until 7pm, and on Saturdays until 3pm. For more on immobilise go to www.immobilise.com.

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

Immobilise the Thieves this Christmas – Tayside Police

With Christmas fast approaching Tayside Police is urging those who receive mobile phones and any other valuable electrical items to register them at www.immobilise.com

Mobile phones, laptop computers, MP3 and MP4 players, and sat nav systems are the most commonly stolen items in Tayside. Unless they are registered, they are also least likely to be returned to their owners if found.

The ‘immobilise’ database is an on-line property search, used by the police service to search for any identifiable item of property. Once a phone or other piece of electrical equipment is registered, officers can use it to look up its IMEI number or unique registration number, view the registered owner’s details, find out if it has been reported stolen to the police anywhere in the UK, and in the case of a mobile phone, which network it is on. All this means that you improve your chances of getting your phone back if it is lost or stolen.

Divisional Crime Prevention Officer Colin Brough said,

These days mobile phones are used for more than just making phone calls. Many people have their whole lives on them – family pictures, important emails, personal and business contact details. We realise that if your phone is lost or stolen it can have a major impact on your life.

We want as many people as possible to get their phones and other property registered on the database this Christmas. It’s really simple, takes only a couple of minutes and better still it’s absolutely free. It means that if a mobile phone, laptop, sat nav or whatever is found, or if we stop someone with any of these items that we believe do not to belong to them, we can quickly check it on the database, and return it to the rightful owner.

We hope that by encouraging more and more people to register their property, the message that it’s just not worth it will get back to those who are thinking about stealing a phone, laptop, sat nav or MP3 player.

To view the source article please go to: www.tayside.police.uk

Cumbria Police increase festive burglary patrols

The News & Star in Cumbria has reported that Police patrols are being stepped up in a bid to stop thieves cashing in on Christmas and spoiling families’ festive season.

Cumbria’s force chiefs also revealed that they had recovered £1,700 of stolen property as part of investigations into a spate of burglaries in north Allerdale.

They have also issued a warning to householders, saying: “Don’t let thieves spoil your Christmas” and urged them to keep possessions “safe, hidden and locked”.

Police teams across the county are distributing a festive flyer, with tips on how to keep valuables, cars and houses safe at a time when burglaries traditionally increase.

PC Simon Evans, of north Cumbria’s community safety squad, said:

By following these messages, you can hopefully have a crime-free Christmas.

Crime-cutting efforts in the area will include the promotion of a website – www.immobilise.com – that allows people to register property for free, recording unique information that can be used by police to trace owners of stolen property.

Inspector Dennis Kelly, who heads west Cumbria’s burglary action team, said:

We are raising awareness of the importance of securing homes effectively and asking for the community’s help to provide us with information if they see anything or anyone acting suspiciously.

If you see something, please call us. Your small piece of information could help us to build up an intelligence picture and could mean that we can intervene and stop a crime from happening.

To read the source article in full please go to: http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/

Registered mobile phone results in arrest for South Yorkshire Police

South Yorkshire Police have reported that a stolen mobile phone that had been registered on the national UK database, Immobilise has resulted in the arrest of a man in Doncaster.
A Twenty five year old man was arrested on Tuesday, 28 September for being drunk and disorderly in the Town Centre.

He was brought into the police station by Acting Police Sergeant Sharon Wood and PC Steve Roberts from the Town Centre Safer Neighbourhood Team. They checked his mobile phone against the Immobilise database and it was identified as being stolen. He admitted he had stolen the phone from a pub in Thorne last year, which when they checked had been reported to the police at this time. He was charged with theft and drunk and disorderly behaviour.

Police are hoping this result will encourage more people to register their belongings with Immobilise. It is the UK’s national property register, which allows people to create secure and private portfolios online for their personal property.

It is not just phones that can be registered any belongings that have a serial number including electrical items such as televisions and cameras can all be registered.

Inspector Jakki Hardy said:

We hope this result will encourage people to register their property on the Immobilise database. If this phone hadn’t been registered it would have been very difficult to know it was stolen and reunite it with the owner.

Police officers in Doncaster have also been targeting shops across Doncaster including CEX, Cash Generator and small mobile phone shops to check for any stolen mobile phones. Officers use scanners to scan the barcode on the back of the phones, which retrieves data from the IMEI number, and states if the phone is lost, stolen or blocked.

Inspector Jakki Hardy added:

Registering goods also acts as a deterrent to opportunistic thieves as they are unable to sell stolen property as easily if it has been registered. We will continue to do these checks and identify any stolen property.

To read the source story in full please go to: South Yorkshire Police

Kent Police issue advice on protecting your personal property

The Kent Police website offers some great information and advice on protecting your personal property. The advice includes personal safety, securing your home, personal property and vehicle security. Much of what you will read on the site is commonly issued advice, however the Essex website has gathered it all together in a useful easy to digest form that is relevant to all of us regardless of where we live.

One of the key messages that comes across is the importance of marking your possessions and registering them on the Immobilise Property Register.

The police recover many items that have been lost or stolen. By security marking items that have financial or sentimental value, it is easier for the police to identify them and return them to you.

Marking your property may also act as a deterrent to thieves, who do not want to be caught holding or passing on stolen items.

Always include information that will help identify you as the owner of the property, for example, a postcode.

For more information please see the following links:

Kent Police: www.kent.police.uk/advice/advice.html