Police in the Western Area of North Yorkshire - covering the districts of Harrogate, Craven and Richmondshire - are asking the public to help make property crime history by signing up to a revolutionary national property database.

The National Mobile Property Register, or NMPR, is a search tool linked to several property databases. These include police forces, insurance firms, mobile phone companies, bailiffs, second-hand dealers and also a cycle register.

Members of the public can register free on www.immobilise.com and keep records including photos of their property. If the property is stolen or lost they can then change the status of the item which allows law enforcement agencies including police and HM Revenue and Customs to search the system should it be found.

Sgt Geoff Crocker, of the Western Area Community Safety Team, said:

It is easy to register and although the system was initially set up to combat stolen mobile phones, now anything with a serial or unique number can be recorded.

Geoff Crocker - Western Area Community Safety Team

“It has always been the case that chasing stolen property across force borders has been difficult for the police. The Police National Computer (PNC) holds information on criminals but stolen property has always come second. North Yorkshire Police now use the National Mobile Property Register when we find or recover identifiable property, and we are already finding items registered in other parts of the UK. I would rather we and other forces found our stolen property and to do this we need more people from our area to record their property on-line.

“It is easy to register and although the system was initially set up to combat stolen mobile phones, now anything with a serial or unique number can be recorded. From bikes to lap-tops and items such as generators, machinery and JCBs. It is your account, you manage it and the police can only look for items they have in their possession. There are no speculative searches nor searches on names or addresses, only on a unique number.

“You have to be a mug now to buy a mobile phone from a 'bloke in a pub' or a dodgy shop. Modern mobiles are so complex that we, or should I say the phone companies, have the technology to track them. The new Blackberry for instance has a built in GPS and changing the SIM card does nothing to the tracking capabilities. If you buy one dishonestly or a lap-top with the same technology, expect a knock on the door!”

And for the police there is an added incentive.

Sgt Crocker said: “Every year we recover thousands of pounds worth of stolen property and this is either sold off with the money going back to the Exchequer or worse still, we have to return it to the suspected thief as we are unable to identify it as stolen. We like to return stolen or lost property, but of course we are overjoyed to 'feel a collar' at the same time. Being able to identify something as stolen allows us to prosecute and with the recovery of assets legislation, if the criminal admits only handling stolen goods we can turn the tables and make them pay for their criminal activities."

The Immobilise website currently has 18 million subscribers with over 22 million items registered. For more information on Immobilise you can go to the website and watch the short presentation. Immobilise is run by a private company with funding from the Home Office which makes it free. Immobilise have 27,000 recorded subscribers in the Harrogate, Craven and Richmondshire Postcode areas.

Students
Harrogate, Craven and Richmondshire Police are also advising students who are off to university to get Immobilise accounts set up before they begin their courses.

Sgt Paul Cording, of Crosshills Police Station, said: “University is frequently the first experience that young people have of living away from home. Consequently, students often have little background knowledge or experience of crime-reduction measures. This, coupled with the concentration of portable high-value items such as laptop computers and hi-fi systems that students often own, makes them likely targets for property crime. Getting registered before you leave is a must, as you are unlikely to think about it once you are there. Students are far more likely to be victims of crime than the rest of us, so registering your property is essential.”

"Whether you are staying at home, running a business or joining the Army, opening an account will allow you to keep accurate records of your property and should the worse happen, you will be able to provide good descriptions, makes, models and serial numbers and even photographs if you have gone to the trouble. This will give the police much more chance of recovering and returning your property, but the added bonus is that this then becomes a deterrent.

“Some of the local success have been where mobiles have been handed in by night-clubs and the NMPR has identified the owners who had registered at a freshers fair at University.”

Police recently raided a house in Harrogate and recovered three mobile phones - amongst other items - and the phones were all registered on the NMPR as either lost or stolen by the phone companies.

DC Scott Nugent, of Harrogate CID, said: "When a mobile phone is recorded lost or stolen by the phone company it gives us a starting point. But we have to go through rigorous and lengthy processes to get the companies to release personal details of who owns the phone. Whilst this is taking place and it can take weeks, the offender is on bail and free to possibly commit more crime. If people register their details on Immobilise we can find them much quicker and charge the offender within a day. One victim thought she left her mobile on the rear seat of a taxi and reported it lost. If the thief knew the mobile would be traced like we have done, he may not have taken the phone in the first place. It does have a significant deterrent effect."

Sgt Crocker added: “Neighbourhood Watch are already on board with this so when you see a 'NHW' sign you can consider it a warning that the property is protected. We are looking at other signing deterrents because we do want the criminals to know about the Immobilise too. This scheme will help deter criminals from stealing and will help to close the market on the sale of stolen property.