How safe is your home? Our home is the most sacred possession we own. We leave all of our belongings there when we go to work, to school, on vacation, or just to the grocery store. Within a moment while out of the house thinking everything is safe, you come home to discover the back door has been broken. You immediately discover that new laptop you just purchased is missing, or even worse, that shotgun that’s been handed down through several generations of your family is gone.

 

You call 911 and when the officer arrives he asks for pictures or serial numbers and you respond by covering your mouth saying “Oh no, I have been meaning to write them down.” Its too late at this point; recovering your property will be very difficult now.

 

Operation Identification is a program supported by most law enforcement agencies. This is a program where it is recommend that you engrave your drivers license number or some identifying number that you have created on the property to show your ownership. This allows law enforcement officers to quickly and easily verify if something is found is in fact yours with no dispute.

 

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office in addition asks you to inventory all your valuables and write the serial numbers along with a photo of the item while it is in your home. Serial numbers are essential for law enforcement so that your stolen property can be entered into a national database so that any time an officer runs the serial number the property will come back stolen from Polk County.

 

Photos of your valuables are very helpful when your property has been found in someone’s possession, flea market, pawn shop, etc. and the serial numbers have been removed. Photos will enable law enforcement to identify the property by seeing a scratch, blemish, or something distinct in the picture to match the item.

 

Once you have taken down all your serial numbers, pictures, and if still available the receipts, store them in a safe at a family member’s residence or a safety deposit box at your bank. Secure these somewhere that you can get access to them if you ever become a victim of larceny.

 

You can utilize an excellent web based program free of charge at http://reportit.leadsonline.com. This site allows you to create your own profile and store each item to include a description, serial numbers, attach a photo, and other identifying information. Once done, it is stored there for your access anytime from a computer or mobile device. You can print it off as well to maintain a paper copy for your records.

– Polk County Sheriff Donald Hill