Video: Hull police returning more stolen goods to owners as officers work alongside second-hand dealers
MORE stolen property is being reunited with its owners than ever before after a shake-up in the way officers investigate thefts in Hull.
About £6,000 of stolen goods has been recovered after the appointment of two officers who are working closely with second-hand dealers.
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Police officer Seb Petch scans a mobile phone.
Humberside Police has also introduced two new scanning devices to allow staff to stay out on the road as part of a major crackdown.
Detective Constable Andy Bradley and investigating officer Seb Petch have been working with crime teams and partner agencies.
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Mr Petch said: “We have been using the two new scanners for the past few weeks and they are making our job a lot easier.
“It means we can instantly find out if property is stolen and it saves on a lot of paperwork back at the station.”
High-value items such as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, cameras and bicycles are regularly stolen and sold on, often to fund drug habits or criminal activity.
Although these goods all have serial numbers or unique reference numbers, the amount of property recovered from thieves and house searches far outnumber what is recorded on databases.
Police are urging people who own or rent anything of value to register it for free online, enabling second-hand dealers to access the information and contact victims of crime.
DC Bradley said: “The main chains of second-hand shops work really well with us and often tip us off about people trying to sell on what they believe to be stolen goods.
“Using the equipment, it enables us to make prompt arrests and stolen property is being recovered and going back to its owners a lot quicker.”
The new officers have already had success after working closely with retailers to identify a prolific offender, and three other suspects, who are all in their late teens.
The gang were charged in December for handling stolen property and other offences, including robbery.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Cunningham said: “We have created the second-hand dealer posts to streamline the process of identifying stolen property, identifying the offender and returning it to the rightful owner.
“The successful arrests of the four teenagers in December, shows the investment in the new equipment, fast and appropriate action by officers and good detective work can offer results.
“It takes criminals off our streets, meaning there are fewer victims of crime.”
He also stressed the importance of people registering their valuables online.
“We have a new electronic property system and we are being pro-active,” he said.
“We now need the public to work with us."
• To register your goods online, visit www.immobilise.com
13 Comments
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by iainnash
Tuesday, February 26 2013, 11:09AM
“Perhaps they changed it since your comment (?) but the link to immobilise is now working...
As for the Police selling stuff (and I'm not a copper!), they don't have enough space to keep everything forever. If they can't identify the owner, they are stuck with the item unless someone reports it stolen and its traceable back to them. The beauty with registering things on immobilise is it makes your things traceable. I've put my stuff on there. Who can blame the Police for auctioning off unclaimed items after a suitable time in storage?”
by beeebo
Thursday, January 31 2013, 1:14PM
“Is it just me that thinks that Mr Petch looks like Jon Pall Sigmarsson?”
by susieb10
Wednesday, January 30 2013, 9:19AM
“What's wrong with the police, don't they usually keep unclaimed items and auction them? I remember reading an article in this very same news paper were there was a stash of bikes and the police were going to auction them. They were all stolen or bikes handed in to the police. Claim your stuff back or lose it for good, if you,be had anything stolen get down there and see if anything is yours. Who knows you might be lucky.”
by Strangley
Tuesday, January 29 2013, 8:43PM
“@scarter65
Downloaded it & it speeded things up no end. However, it seems to affect navigation onto other pages. Messed around a bit & it seems to be working ok.”
by scarter65
Tuesday, January 29 2013, 4:24PM
“Strangely - Install Ghostery (browser add on) and you can block the lot.”
by Strangley
Tuesday, January 29 2013, 2:41PM
“This site is a bandwidth thief. Audio ads, pop ups & god knows how many scripts running in the background. It is becoming unusable”
by garrya
Tuesday, January 29 2013, 2:29PM
“can i have my 4 bikes back... taken in the 14 months .... you are a JOKE........”
by Coder72
Tuesday, January 29 2013, 1:52PM
“I WAS BURGLED ten years ago & never had a thing returned? no one was caught & i had evidence of who it was & i am STILL waiting for the police to pickit up? in the same week i lost my job, the house was burgled and my grandma died..as at the time we had little income we didnt have insurance..i lost everything they even took my boxers and socks??? the only clothing i had was what i was wearing? i left the house with the lights on and the tv also on with curtains closed..they must of been watching the house for a while so dont fall for thinking leaving ur lights & tv on works...so now i am much more careful”
by localad
Tuesday, January 29 2013, 12:09PM
“We also need the second hand shops, cash converters etc to work closely with the police with rehards what goods they accept for cash.
These places are almost fencers of stolen mobile lap tops as well as legal exchanges.”
by Blakey_
Tuesday, January 29 2013, 11:04AM
“What's the point of the article if you aren't going to give the link to the website Immobilise .com”