Published: November 10, 2009 12:14 am      

Steps for better recovery

Keelin: Large amount of stolen items never make it back to owner

ASHLAND — THIS IS the second in a two-part series about how police investigate, identify and recover stolen property.

Getting stolen items back after a theft is challenging but law enforcement officials and others say a few simple but effective steps can make a big difference.

Boyd County Sheriff Terry Keelin offered this advice: “If it’s stealable, if someone would want to steal it, do something to identify it.”

Keelin said a large number of items is never found. Many recovered stolen items never make it back to their owners because they can’t be positively identified.

Many times stolen items are seized but may just be sitting in a police evidence locker waiting to be claimed.

“We hold it, unless somebody identifies it. I’ve got stuff I’ve held for two or three years just waiting to see if anybody ever identifies it or can identify it,” Keelin said.

If no one can identify the items, they are auctioned off to the public as surplus property. Keelin says this happens “a lot.”

The simplest and most effective thing individuals can do to identify and help police find their stolen belongings is to write down serial numbers and the make and model of items.

Firearms, game systems, television sets, other electronics, power tools, ATVs, bicycles and anything else that has this information on it can often easily be identified through these numbers, according to Keelin.

National tracking systems, such as LeadsOnline, which many pawnbrokers are required to report to, are only effective if the owner and police agencies have this information.

Recovery of items are found at locations that do report to a searchable database can also be made simpler using this same information, Keelin said. The same holds true for items turned over by suspects or recovered from them by police.

For items that do not have their own unique identifiers, such as hand-tools or jewelry, Flatwoods Police Chief Tom Haynes said owner applied identifiers are very effective.

Engraving a name, or some other type of unique number, symbol or mark using widely available electronic engraving pens is simple, he said.

“We have to have something to enter into NCIC (national crime information center) and I know NCIC and LeadsOnline work hand in hand querying back and forth,” Haynes said.

Keelin said often something as simple as nail polish can be an effective identifier.

He recounted a case where police were able to locate and return a number of stolen tools to a man because he’d applied a drop of pink nail polish to the items. “That is so unique that we were able to identify it,” Keelin said.

He also advised individuals to have their jewelry and watches engraved with identifying information.

Cher Williams, a loan manager at Tri-State Pawn and Jewelry, offered these additional tips.

“Write down a description of your jewelry. Do an inventory, write down what you have in your house that you feel is valuable. Take pictures of it and store it on a card somewhere separately,” she said. “A lot of people have safety deposit boxes that they keep that stuff in. Or keep it at work.”

Keeping items locked in a safe at home is often only effective if the safe is too large to be easily moved or is secured in a wall, according to Keelin.

Smaller safes that can be easily carried by one or two individuals are often taken and pried open later, he said.

CARRIE STAMBAUGH can be reached at cstambaugh@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.