Property ID technology cuts burglary by 80 per cent

Devon and Cornwall Constabulary has seen a dramatic fall in burglaries since it started using property registration and identification technology in burglary hotspot areas. Since purchasing the Hermes and Apollo property registration and identification devices from Radio Tactics Ltd, a leading global provider of mobile phone forensics equipment,the Devon and Cornwall force has reduced property burglary by 80 per cent in Torbay, previously the region’s hotspot.

Hermes was designed and built by Radio Tactics as a portable solution for identifying barcodes and IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) numbers and registering items such as bicycles, laptops and mobile phones onto the national Immobilise property database. With the assistance of police community support officers (PCSOs), neighbourhood officers and crime reduction officers, Hermes was taken into schools and door-to-door in Devon and Cornwall’s burglary hotspot areas to register property.

In conjunction with Hermes, police officers in the region have been using Radio Tactics’ Apollo on a daily basis. This device scans items to ascertain whether they have ever been lost, blocked or stolen and also to find out their registered owner. Local businesses, newspapers and radio stations have assisted with publicising the scheme, deterring the criminal fraternity by making the capabilities of the new equipment well known.

Detective Sergeant Karl Rowland, Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, said: “It is important when planning any course of action to reduce offences, such as dwelling burglary, to ensure that when implemented you balance both reduction and detection techniques, ensuring that any operation is an on-going success. Although Torbay does not have a high level of domestic burglaries, the occurrences were causing concern and were detrimental to the area`s figures. It was decided that any tactics used should be long lasting and not a ‘blip’.

“Hermes was used to register all property within certain areas, thus making the property worthless to criminals. Pro-actively, Apollo was used to target individuals on stop-checks, warrants and checks of all second hand outlets, including car boot sales. Schools played a large part in the registration of family property to enhance the coverage. The recording of property and recovery and return of stolen items was well documented in the media.

“The overall success was measured by a near 80 per cent reduction in offences of dwelling burglary in areas targeted, which wasn’t displaced to a neighbouring area. This reduction is still continuing over 18 months later.”

Andy Gill, CEO of Radio Tactics, added: “We are pleased to see our products producing such excellent results, making people feel safer and dramatically reducing crime levels. As we continue to roll out Apollo and Hermes in other forces throughout the UK, we look forward to seeing this positive outcome around the country. This way we can reduce the levels of a prevalent type of crime nationally and lighten the heavy workload of police officers on the beat.”

Radio Tactics Ltd Millbrook Technology Campus, 2nd Avenue, Southampton, SO15 0DJ
Tel: 023 8051 1131
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