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CRIME PREVENTION

Although a victim of crime on this occasion, you should ensure that if it were to ever happen to you again you are able to supply as much information to the police as possible to assist in the recovery of your treasured possessions, whether they are of sentimental or monetary value.

Police forces have continuously advised the general public to identify their valuables with a code using a ‘permanent’ or ‘invisible’ mark. As technology advances it is now possible to take digital photographs of your property, and all 3 procedures are outlined for your information.

MARKING YOUR PROPERTY

One way of attempting to discourage a thief is marking your possessions with a permanent or invisible unique reference number which relates solely to your home. The equipment required to perform these tasks is readily available, but should you have difficulty in obtaining the equipment, the Crime Prevention Officer at your local Police Station will be happy to give you further advice on the subject.

Marking your valuables with your post code could not be simpler. Your unique code is made up of your Post Code followed by either the number of your house or the first 3 letters of the name of your home- for example

AB2 3 CD followed by 9(Your House Number) would denote the occupier of No 9, The High Street, Wherever, whilst AB2 3CD followed by LIN(For your house name ‘Linden Lea’) would locate the property to the house named ‘Linden Lea’, The High Street, Wherever.

You can be assured that property coming into Police possession is regularly checked for such identifying marks and so your efforts may not go un-rewarded.

Remember should you move address simply place an ‘X’ at the end of the first code and repeat the procedure again with your new post code.

PERMANENT MARKING

Using an engraving tool and a number and letter stencil to mark your code.

This type of coding should only be used on property where a permanent mark would not destroy its value ,such as larger objects made of metal (ie cycles or certain garden equipment.) Remember never to hide a mark so the police cannot find it, and never place it onto only an outer casing or part of an item which can be readily removed.

INVISIBLE MARKING

Using an ultra violet pen

If a permanent mark would spoil the look or value of an item to be coded then consider an ‘invisible’ ultra violet (UV) pen. This mark can only be seen with a special lamp and would not deter a thief from stealing it. However this will assist the Police with the recovery of your property should it come into their possession. Remember the UV solution on your item will fad and rub and so should be regularly re-applied to the item coded.

The burglar or thief can also be deterred by the placement of a sticker in a prominent place in the window or on the door to your home indicating that your property has been marked. These stickers are available from your local police station.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Photographs may be necessary where the item is of some value and therefore should not be permanently marked such as an ‘antique table’ or because of the size of the item such as a piece of jewellery.

Once the photographs have been developed keep the pictures and the negatives separate. This will reduce the likelihood of them being stolen by a thief, whether intentionally or by accident. It may be advisable to ask a relative to keep hold of a set of the photographs to reduce this possibility.

With the advent of digital photographing images there is now a new protected way of taking your photographs without the worry of them being developed by an outside agency and your address being disclosed. Digital pictures can be stored on a computer floppy disk and treated in the same way as the advice given for the safekeeping of ordinary photographs.

We give our support to ‘Object ID’

Traceit4u.com supports OBJECT ID the international standard for describing art, antiques and antiquities. The Object ID standard was introduced by The J. Paul Getty Trust in 1993 and is now adopted by major law enforcement agencies around the world.


Object ID helps combat art theft by encouraging the use of the standard in both the private and public sector and the use of the checklist as a crime prevention tool is being promoted by a number of the UK police forces. The Object ID checklist for describing an item is reproduced below;

Take Photographs

In addition to overall views, take close ups of inscriptions, other markings, and damage or repairs. Where possible use a rule or scale to indicate the known size of the object.

Make a note of the following;

The Object.

Is it a painting, a clock, an item of jewellery etc

Materials

What material is the object made from?. E.g. Wood, silver, pewter, brass etc.

Measurements.

Take down detailed measurements of the objects height, width, depth etc.

Inscriptions & Markings.

Remember to record any identifying marks, numbers or inscriptions on the object. This would include Family crests or initials on silver items as well as the assay marks or purity of the precious metal etc.

Distinguishing Marks or feature

Record any physical identifying features known to you. This would include damage, scratches, repairs etc.

Title

With regards to paintings in particular does it have a title by which it is known ( e.g The Sunset) ?

Subject

What is pictured e.g. A Landscape, a Mother with Child, a self-portrait

Date or Period of the item

When was the object made? Either a specific date such as 1876 or a period in time such as 18th century.

Maker

Who made the object? Was it an individual or a company.

Remember to write a short description including any other additional information you consider relevant and keep it in a safe place as detailed above.

Further information about the system can be gained by writing to:
The Getty Information Institute
1200 Getty Center Drive
Los Angeles
CA 90049
USA

Or visit their web site : http://www.gii.getty.edu. The Trust has also recently published a manual summarising the evolution of Object ID, and provides guidance on its use. It also gives advice on photographing objects for identification purposes. The book is available via the Internet at www.getty.edu/publications