Stolen goods database launched

Reuniting owners with their stolen property can be a difficult task to master, but in Peterborough steps are being taken to improve the system of repatriating stolen goods with the use of unique serial numbers that are uploaded to a database.

The system also allows the police to quickly bring prosecution when an item is identified at stolen.

The system was originally designed to track stolen mobile phones, but is now being rolled out across Peterborough to encompass other goods. Residents and businesses can register the goods they would like to protect via a free upload service.

Cambridgeshire Police crime reduction officer, Ellen Muirhead, said: “The beauty of the Immobilise system is that it links property with its rightful owner, regardless of where the person lives, where the item was stolen or where the stolen item was recovered.”

The system has been in operation only for a few months, but has already seen an arrest. Muirhead said: “A police officer stopped a cyclist for riding without lights in Cambridge. He checked the bike number and found it had been stolen in Surrey, resulting in two people being charged with burglary.”

The system works by using the unique serial number that many goods, such as electrical items and bicycles, have. The item’s serial number is uploaded to a website without charge. However, for an additional charge of £3.99, items without a unique serial number can also be registered with photographs that can be uploaded to the database.

The details of all goods that are uploaded to the service also appear on the Police National Stolen Equipment Database that all UK forces have access to.